308 ANNALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



is a gigantic animal, distinguished from all the European Pleistocene 

 rhinoceroses by the entire absence of the anterior horn and the pos- 

 session of an enormous horn situated on the forehead between the eves; 

 also by the elaborate foldings of its dental enamel, to which the name 

 Elasmotherium refers. Its hypsodont and folded teeth were especially 

 adapted to a grassy diet, and Gaudry connects its appearance in Europe 

 with the extensive deforestation accompanying the Steppe and Tundra 

 periods of mammalian life. It apparently wandered into Europe from 

 central Asia and never became very abundant. The elasmothere is pos- 

 sibly descended 100 from the Aceratherium of the Upper Miocene of Ep- 

 pelsheim which has perfectly smooth, pointed nasals, and the rudiment 

 of a horn between the eyes. 



Horses of the Pleistocene. — The horse was distributed all over the 

 northern hemisphere in Pleistocene times in the Glacial, Interglacial, 

 and Postglacial Epochs. In America no Postglacial horses are found. 

 In Europe horses were apparently abundant in Postglacial times and 

 two of the natural breeds appear to have given origin to two of the 

 modern domesticated types. The horses of the long warm Second 

 Interglacial Stage were remarkable for their great size (E. siissenborn- 

 ensis, E. mosbachensis) which exceeded that of the largest recent breeds 

 (Pohlig, 1907). 101 According to Pohlig the horses were at all times ac- 

 companied by the wild asses (E. hemionus) but this we are inclined to 

 believe was a special feature of the dry and cold steppe periods in which 

 we should expect to find asses similar to the dzeggetai of Asia of present 

 time. The existing Avild ass, or kiang, of the Asiatic steppes certainly 

 appears in early Postglacial times at Wildscheuer, Thaingen, Kessler- 

 loch, and Schweizersbild associated with the late Aurignacian Palaeo- 

 lithic culture. Eeference of the ancient Pleistocene horses to E. caballus 

 is certainly erroneous. The connection of these ancient Pleistocene 

 horses with the modern species and races requires further investigation. 



We should expect to discover in Europe horses of three different habi- 

 tats or life zones, namely, of the dry African-Asiatic plains, of the 

 Eurasiatic forests and meadows, of the tundras and steppes. Such an- 

 ticipation appears to be verified through the new lines of study instituted 

 by Ewart 102 since 1904. Following more or less closely the work of pre- 

 vious students of the Equida? he has shown that the different wild breeds 

 of horses have evolved in three kinds of environment. Thus we discover 



100 Osboen, H. F. : "Frontal Horu on Aceratherium incisivum. Relation of the type 

 to Elasmotherium," Science. N. S., Vol. IX. No. 214. pp. 161-162. Feb.. 1899. 



101 Pohlig, H. : Biszeit und Frgeschichte des Menschen. Leipzig. 1907. 



102 Ewart, J. Cossar : "The Multiple Origin of Horses and Ponies." Trans. High- 

 land. Agric. Soc. of Scotland, pp. 1-39. 1904. 



