SOUTH DAKOTA SCHOOL OF MINES 



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of the time. The nasals are remarkable in that they indi- 

 cate a long flexible nose if not a true proboscis. Among 

 recent ruminants such a proboscidiform muzzle is found 

 only in the saiga antelope and to a less extent in the moose. 

 The four toes of the front foot are functional and corre- 

 spond to th£ second, third, fourth, and fifth, of five-toed 

 animals. The hind foot shows only two toes, the third and 

 fourth. Small short splint-like processes disclose, however, 

 the rudimentary second and fifth. The hind limb compared 

 with the fore limb, is large and long. The tail is larger and 

 better developed than in the present day deer. 



Figure 67 — Skull of the ruminant Syndyoceras cooki of the Lower 

 Miocene. Barbour, 1905. 



The size of Protoceras is practically that of the sheep, 

 but the general build seems to have corresponded more 

 nearly to that of the pronghorn antelope. (Plate 44). The 

 animal is, however, not very closely related to either. 

 Syndyoceras had a head that in the male was as fantastic as 

 that of Protoceras. There were two pairs of horns or horn- 

 like outgrowths, — one pair situated above the eyes and 

 curving toward each other, like those of the present day 

 cow and one pair arising anteriorily nearly midway between 

 the eyes and nostrils and curving outward away from each 

 other. (Plate 45. 



