168 THE WONDERS OF GEOLOGY. Lect. II. 



shoulders it resembled the former, its legs and feet pre- 

 sented an admixture of the characters of the latter. 



30. The Mylodon. — This creature was nearly as large 

 as the Hippopotamus, but shorter. Its hinder extremities 

 are relatively short, and the feet are placed at right angles 

 with the legs, and are as long as the thigh-bones. The tail 

 is remarkably thick and strong, and as long as the hinder 

 extremities. The pelvis is very massive and solid. The 

 ribs are as stout and broad as in the elephant. The fore- 

 legs, or arms, are connected to the sternum by powerful 

 clavicles, and are so constructed as to admit of unre- 

 strained motion in every direction. The toes are five 

 in number on each fore foot, and four on the hinder ; the 

 two external toes are unarmed, the others have powerful 

 curved nails or claws. This creature had claws and hoofs 

 on the same foot, and therefore connects the two great 

 groups of recent animals, the ungulata and unguiculata. 



The skull is long, narrow, and smaller than that of the 

 ox ; it terminates in a flat or truncated muzzle. The bones 

 of the upper part of the cranium are of enormous thick- 

 ness, large air-cells being interposed between the inner 

 and outer table. The teeth, which are implanted in very 

 deep sockets, are of the same form and size throughout, 

 and closely resemble in structure those of the Megatherium, 

 but the surface of the crown when worn is flat ; there are 

 four on each side in the lower, and five in the upper jaw.* 



There is a magnificent skeleton of this creature in the 

 Hunterian Museum ; it is as perfect as if the animal had 

 recently been buried, and the bones dug up entire. It is 

 eleven feet long, from the muzzle to the extremity of the 

 tail.f 



* See Medals of Creation, vol. ii. pp. 845—847. 



t See a Memoir on the " Skeleton of an extinct gigantic Sloth 

 {Mylodon robuslus)" by Professor Owen. 1 vol. 4 to. with plates. 

 1842. 



