59* 



HISTORICAL GEOLOGY 



they been able to compete with the true mammals which appeared 

 in the Eocene. Although mammals, they were lowly in organiza- 

 tion ; and, even in the Upper Cretaceous where the vegetation was 

 of the modern type, they were not abundant. 



Amblypoda (Greek, amblus, blunt, and pons, foot). — Along with 

 other true mammals associated with th: 



^mm^m J "" mf~M ar** ~> 



FlG. 535. — Skeleton and restoration showing the evolution of the amblypods in the 

 early Eocene. (Models by C. R. Knight, under the direction of Prof. H. F. Osborn.) 



Mesozoic type, there appeared a group of heavy creatures (Ambly- 

 poda), with stout limbs ending in stumpy, five-toed feet. These 

 amblypods (Fig. 535 A y B) were conspicuous in North America 

 during the Eocene but became extinct before its close. 



The early representatives (Fig. 535) had few distinguishing char- 



