Symonds — British Fossil Mammals. 417 



structure which led to the Ehinoceros on one hand, and to the 

 Pal^otheres on the other. It was probably tho prototype of both. 

 The strata of the Upper Eocenes consist, both in England and on 

 the Continent, of a scries of both marine and fresh- water strata. 

 The assemblage of shells indicate a more temperate climate, and in 

 the uppermost strata in France, which are probably of later date 

 than the Upper Eocenes of England, the plants indicate distinctly 

 a more temperate climate, as they resemble the vegetation on the 

 borders of the Mediterranean. Still, plants of warm latitudes are 

 associated with those of newer types, as we have the Fan Palm or 

 Palmetto associated with the remains of fresh-water fish, crocodiles, 

 and other reptiles. With regard to the Mammalia the history is 

 most striking. More than fifty extinct species of quadrupeds have 

 been found in rocks of this age in France alone, while many have 

 been found in England. Among these the best known are the 

 PalcBotheres and Anoplotheres, the former being allied to the rhi- 

 noceros, the horse, and the tapir; and the latter exhibiting links 

 between the tapirs and camels. With these and many other her- 

 bivorous animals there co-existed carnivorous quadrupeds which, 

 says Professor Owen, "to judge by the character of their flesh- 

 cutting teeth, were more fell and deadly than modern wolves and 

 tigers." Not a single quadruped, as far as I know, lived on from 

 the period of the Lower Eocene to that of the Upper Eocenes. 

 New forms modified from the old forms succeed, and we learn that 

 distinct groups of Mammalia lived and died out for ever during 

 the Eocene epoch. (See Lyell's Elements, 6th Ed. 1865). 



The Miocene JEpoch. — As we ascend from the Lower Tertiary rocks 

 to the Middle Tertiary strata we find evidences of a gradual change 

 in the physical geography and the climate and temperature of this 

 part of the globe, and also of the introduction of new species of 

 animals and plants, and the dying out of the older forms of life ; 

 but the change was so gradual that it is most difficult to decide 

 where to draw the line of separation between strata of the Eocene 

 and Miocene epochs, and even now it is found necessary to draw 

 lines of demarcation by the grouping of the fossil Mammalia 

 rather than by the shells and other marine and fresh-water remains. 

 In our English Lower Miocenes of the Isle of Wight remains have 

 been found of the Hyopotamus, an early representative of the hog 

 family, extinct species of boar having been found in Germany, 

 which appear to culminate in Post-pliocene deposits in the common 

 wild boar {Sus scrofa fossilis). Seven species of Hyopotamus are 

 known. The Cainotherium (new beast) of the Lower Miocenes 

 is a genus of quadrupeds distinct, yet allied to the Eocene 

 Anoplotheres. A species of Ehinoceros {R. inckivus), makes 

 its appearance for the first time in strata of this age. The 

 coming in of new species and the dying out of old ones is well 

 illustrated by the Mammalia of the Upper Miocene deposits. Pro- 

 fessor Owen says, ''Our knowledge of the progression of Mammalian 

 life during the Miocene period teaches us that one or two of the 

 generic forms most frequent in the older Tertiary strata still lingered 



