THE RAT-TOOTHED GOAT 



155 



in having proportionately much thicker and shorter " feet" 

 (cannon-bones) than they have. 



If the remains of this strange little creature had turned 

 up in more ancient strata — in Pliocene or Miocene — it 

 would not have been quite so astonishing. But it would 

 be still very remarkable, since it has all the characters of a 

 goat-like creature in the shape of its skull, its bony horn- 

 cores, its limb-bones, and its cheek-teeth ; and yet, as it 



Fig. 25. — Drawing of the skull of the rat-toothed goat, Myotragus 

 — the new extinct beast discovered in limestone fissures in the island 

 of Majorca by Miss Bate. i. Side view of the skull and lower jaw. 

 2. Appearance of the two rat-like teeth as seen when the end of 

 the lower jaw is viewed from above. 



were monstrously and in a most disconcerting way.protrudes 

 from its lower jaw two great rats' teeth. Nothing like it 

 or approaching it or suggesting it, is known among recent 

 or fossil Ruminants. They all without exception have a 

 lower jaw with the teeth of the exact number and grouping 

 which you may see in a sheep's lower jaw. We know 

 hundreds of them, both living and fossil, many from the 



