218 GEOLOGY. 



necks enabled them to reach the ground for food without the help 

 of such an appendage. The heads of most of the species were ex- 

 tremely elongated, but the limbs bore a striking resemblance to 

 those of the elephants. One pair of horns, of small size, was 

 placed above the nasal bones, far forward; the second pair, some- 

 what larger, above the canines on the maxillary bones; and a third 

 pair, of large size, on the parietal bones, far back on the head. 

 Large canines from the upper jaw extended in a slight curve down- 

 ward, varying in length, on the different species, from five to ten 

 inches. They had no incisor teeth. 



Cope recognizes four genera of these remarkable animals. Leidy 

 first made them known in his description of Uintotherium, of which 

 three species at least are now known. Subsequently Marsh and 

 Cope described other genera and species, and no little confusion has 

 been produced by the different names ascribed by different investi- 

 gators to the same species. Cope's type genus, and species is Lox- 

 olophodon cornutus ( Tinoceras grandis, Marsh). This species is 

 perhaps most remarkable for the narrow form of the cranium, 

 which at its middle is only one-fourth its length. The horn 

 cores diverge, "having in their upper portion an outward curvature." 

 * * " Its form and proportion of body was similar to that of an 

 elephant," but its limbs were shorter, and its tail was quite small. 

 The neck was longer than tfhat of the elephants, but shorter than 

 that of the rhinoceros. The hind pair of horns towered far above 

 the others, "extending vertically, with a divergence when the head 

 was at rest." Cope, contrary to Marsh, claims that the muzzle 

 could not have reached the ground by several feet, and that there- 

 fore a proboscis,as in elephants and tapirs, was a necessity. The 

 horns were probably palmate. 



Eobasileus is another genus of the family established by Cope, 

 but which may be included in the preceding. It was about the 

 same height as Loxolophidon, but more slender. The muzzle, too, 

 is shorter and more contracted, as also the horn sheaths. Still an- 

 other genus of this remarkable family, described by Leidy, was 

 Megaceratops. It was about the size in bulk of body to a small 

 elephant. 



The Bathmodontidae were a group of animals closely allied to the 

 preceding. Cope has described four species from deposits of this 

 age. The neck was longer and the dentition more complete than 

 in the preceding forms of this order. They stood in even closer re^ 

 lation to the odd-toed animals than even the Eobasileus. 



