THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 



of development or types of gradual elevation are repre- 

 sented by specimens of Orohippus, four hands high, Meso- 

 hippus, five hands high, Merychippus, nine hands high, 

 Hipparion, ten hands high, and Equus scotti, the original 

 North American horse, fourteen hands high. Although the 

 remains of these fossil species of horse are abundant in 

 North America in the latest geological formations, they all 

 became extinct in the New World long before the discovery 

 of America by the Spaniards. There are no traces of the 

 horse in the Aztec history of America or in the knowledge 

 of any of the South American peoples or even in the myths 

 of the American Indian. 



To typify the conquest of the horse by man, a skeleton of 

 each, mounted in an erect position, is in a near-by case. 

 The entire series is supplemented by excellent plaster res- 

 torations and water-color sketches. 



Across the hall from the horse exhibit is a series of speci- 

 mens showing the Evolution of the Camel, Deer and other 

 cloven-footed animals. Next to the horses, the camels 

 furnish the most striking series illustrating the evolution 

 of a race of animals. The oldest known had four toes on 

 each foot (probably, like other races, descended from a 

 five-toed ancestor as yet undiscovered). In each successive 

 formation, the race increased in size and gradually lost the 

 side toes, consolidating the middle pair into a "cannon- 

 bone." An interesting exhibit is the large block containing 

 five skeletons of a small extinct camel, found in a quarry 

 near Agate, Nebraska. 



102 



