116 THE WHITE RIVER BADLANDS 



inches. This would indicate an animal fourteen feet or 

 more in length and fully eight feet high. 



In general appearance the Titanothere showed some 

 resemblance to the rhinoceros, particularly as to the head. 

 The limbs are stouter than in the rhinoceros, the fore limbs 

 especially so. The limbs .have some likeness to those of an 

 elephant, but are shorter and apparently more supple. There 

 are four short thick hoofed toes on the front foot correspond- 

 ing to the second, third, fourth and fifth of five toed animals. 

 (Plate 18). On the hind foot only the second, third, and 

 fourth are present. The body of the animal is short, as in 

 the elephant, and the shoulder is conspicuously high, much 

 as in the bison. (Plates 35 and 36). This is caused 

 by the great elongation of the spinous process of the an- 

 terior dorsal vertebrae. The projecting parts have well 

 roughened extremities and doubtless served to support in 

 great measure the stout muscles required to manipulate the 

 powerful head in feeding and to give opportunity for its 

 aggressive use. 



The skull is particularly grotesque and noteworthy. It 

 is a long, low, saddle-shapped affair, with remarkable nasal 

 prominences at the extreme end, bearing in most species, 

 ( Plate 20 ) especially the later ones, powerful bony protu- 

 berances. These protuberances are commonly spoken of as 

 horns or horn cores, but there is much doubt as to their ever 

 having been sheathed in horn. The skull varies much in the 

 different genera and species, considerably in the different 

 sexes, and individual variation is not uncommon. Its full 

 length in some of the larger species reaches as much as three 

 feet or even more. The width is generally less than two 

 feet, although in occasional skulls, especially of Bronto- 

 therium, it may reach more than thirty inches. (Plate 38). 



The horn-cores are more or less cellular at the base and 

 are placed transversely and project upward and outward. 

 Their size, shape and position, like other parts of the skull, 

 vary much with species and sex. The ears are placed far to 

 the rear, while the eyes are surprisingly near the front. The 

 brain, like the brain of nearly all early mammalian types, 

 was very small. It was scarcely as large as a man's fist, and 

 the living animal was evidently a very stupid creature. The 



