124 THE WHITE RIVER BADLANDS 



The skull has to some extent the form of the present 

 day peccary. The cranial portion is much like that of the 

 camel. The skeleton as a whole more nearly resembles that 

 of the pig, but the number, general proportions, relative 

 position and plan of construction of the teeth are more 

 nearly those of the ruminants and it is this relationship to 

 the ruminants that has governed the classification of the 

 family. Leidy in his description of the Oreodon suggested 

 that it might very appropriately be called a "ruminating 

 hog." One remarkable feature is the highly developed 

 canine teeth in both jaws. These teeth or tusks are three 

 sided with round borders, the upper pair curving forward, 

 downward and slightly outward, the lower pair nearly or 

 quite straight and pointing upward, forward and outward. 

 They give to the jaws something of the appearance of the 

 wolfs jaws but it is only a resemblance and does not indi- 

 cate any close relationship. ( Plates 21 and 22 ) . As in the 

 pigs the eyes were small, the neck and legs short. With the 

 exception of the older forms all of the Oreodontidae had 

 four toes on each foot. These represent the second, third, 

 fourth, and fifth of five toed animals. Agriochoerus and the 



Figure 62 — Skeleton of the Oligocene Oreodont, Agriochoerus latifrons. 

 Wortman, 1896. 



far commoner Oreodon had five on the front feet. The tail 

 was long and slender. The animals varied considerably in 

 size but the common forms were about the size of the 

 peccary. Promerycochoerus, the largest, was about the size 

 of the wild boar. 



Of the several genera, Oreodon, Leptauchena, Agrio- 

 choerus, and Promerycochoerus are the best known. Oreo- 

 don is by far the most abundant but the others are found 

 in considerable numbers. ( Plates 40 and 41 ) . They seem to 



