THE HALL OF FOSSIL VERTEBRATES 



which suckle their young, including most four-footed be 

 Most of them lived during the Tertiary period, or Age of Mam- 



. and arc hundreds of thousands of years old, ranging from 



baps three million years down; these lived Long before man 



had appeared on the earth. A few, including the Mastodon, 



Mammoth. Megatherium, Irish Elk, One-toed Horse and others, 



arc oi the latest geological age, the Quaternary, or Age of 



nd, while tens of thousands of years old, were eontem- 



ries of the earliest human beings. 

 Many of the extinct animals are allied to those whieh are still 

 living and are called by the common names of their modern 

 relatives. Thus we have extinct Horses. Rhino Tapirs, 



Camels etc. Other races have died out completely and are not 

 related to any living animals. For these there is no popular 

 name, and we have to coin a name from their Latin or Greek 

 scientific name, calling them " Titanotheres," "Dinosaurs" etc. 



Instances of Evolution. 



The best example of the evolution of a race of animals is 

 vn in the southeastern corner of the hall. Here is exhibited 

 the Ancestry of the Horse, the specimens from successive geologi- 

 ihowing how the Modern Horse has descended from 

 diminutive ancestors with four toes on each forefoot and three 

 ach hind foot, and with teeth and other parts of the skele- 

 ton different from those of their modern representatives. 



Almost equally complete, although less familiar, is the series 

 illustrating the Ancestry of the Camel, which may Ik- found on 

 the north side of the hall near the east end. These animals, like 

 the II": Ived from small and primitive ancestors to 1 



and highly specializ endants, and then became extinct in 



their former broad and arid plains of w< 



tit of civilized man. but survived to modern ti 

 in Other parts of the world. I. .nils 



:<-tons illustrating the a I Titanotheres and 



n nth 



side of the hall beginning 



1 1 



