DISCOVERY OF NEW FOSSIL TAPIR IN OREGON 703 



the bones which form the subject of the following discussion. 

 The remains are from the Promerycochoerus horizon (Upper John 

 Day) exposed on the bank of the John Day river, beneath the 

 Columbia basalt, to the west of Spray post-oflfice, Wheeler 

 county, Oregon. In a recent paper,' Professor Merriam named 

 the beds of the Upper John Day the Paracotylops beds, basing 

 the name on the new genus Paracotylops, proposed in the same 

 paper by Dr. W. D. Matthew for the typical Oreodonts of this 

 horizon. In the numbers of the America)i Journal of Science 

 for last December and January, a paper by Mr. E. Douglass 

 appeared in which these Oreodonts were provisionally named 

 Promerycochcerus. Neither Professor Merriam nor Dr. Matthew 

 read this article before the publication of Professor Merriam's 

 paper, and consequently did not notice the new name. It now 

 appears that Proinerycoclioenis should be retained as a generic 

 name, and consequently, at Professor Merriam's suggestion, the 

 name of the beds of the upper division has been changed from 

 Paracotylops to Promerycochoerus beds. 



The type specimen (No. M 934, Univ. of Cal. Pal. Mus.) 

 comprises several superior incisors ; the lower jaw lacking the 

 posterior portion, with representatives of all the inferior denti- 

 tion excepting the canines and the third molar ; the proximal 

 portion of the left humerus ; the left radius ; the scaphoid, lunar, 

 magnum, and unciform of the right carpus ; three metacarpals of 

 the same side, and a few phalanges. The bones are those of a 

 single individual of a new species of the genus Protapiriis, for 

 which the name Protapirus robusttis is proposed. It is consid- 

 erably larger than any of the White River species of Protapirus, 

 and would approximate in size the most specialized living tapir, 

 Elasmognatlms bairdii. The lower jaw is represented about one- 

 half natural size in Fig. i. The symphysial region was found 

 in place, imbedded in a buff colored tuff so characteristic of the 

 Upper John Day beds that the expression "buff beds" was used 

 as a convenient field term for this horizon. The other bones lay 

 loose on the surface in the immediate vicinit}'. 



'"A Contribution to the Geology of the John Day Basin," Bull. Dept. Geol., U. of 

 Cal., Vol. II, No. 9, p. 296 ; Jour. Geol., Jan. -Feb., 1901, p. 72. 



