2o THE COLLECTION OF FOSSIL VERTEBRATES 



Most remarkable among extinct carnivora are the Sabre Tooth 



Tigers, in which the upper canine teeth are enlarged into long, 



curving, flattened, serrate fangs, most terrible weapons, effective 



no doubt against the thick hides of the primitive pachyderms. 



North ^he f° ur th alcove is very narrow. In it are placed 



Alcove 4. a few remains of fossil marine mammals : Seals, Ceta- 



Marine ceans and Sirenians. These groups are very imper- 

 Mammals. fectly knQwn ag fossiR 



The fossil Elephants and Mastodons are in the next broad 

 North alcove, about the middle of the hall. The evolution of 



Alcove 5. these animals is shown by a series of skulls. The 

 Probos- Mastodon skeleton and the skull and fore-limb of the 

 Imperial Mammoth from Texas, and tusk of the Si- 

 berian (Hairy) Mammoth are noteworthy specimens. 



Beyond the Elephants are the Artiodactyls or Cloven- 

 Hoofed Mammals. They divide into two groups, typified by the 

 North Pig s an d the Ruminants, the latter including the greater 



Alcove 6. part of modern hoofed mammals, but by no means pro- 

 Elotheres. portionally common as fossils. First among the fossil 

 artiodactyls are the Elotheres, an extinct race of large animals 

 distantly related to Pigs and Hippopotami. Next are the fossil 

 Peccaries ; then the Oreodonts, pig-like animals with the teeth 

 North of ruminants, very abundant in America during the 



Alcove 7. middle and later Tertiary, but extinct before the Plio- 



. ' cene epoch. Then come the Camels, which although 



caries, 



Oreodonts, now found only in Asia and South America, originated 

 Camels. { n North America, and afterwards migrated to these 

 other continents and became extinct in their native land. The 

 evolution of these animals is shown by a series of stages only 

 less complete than the stages in the evolution of the Horse. 



The higher ruminants (Deer, Antelope, Sheep and Cattle) are 

 rather poorly represented in the collections. The Great Irish 

 North Deer is the most striking among the extinct species; 



Alcove 8. attention is also called to the mounted skeletons of 

 Deer, Ante- Protoceras, a deer-like primitive ruminant of the Oligo- 

 pe etc * cene epoch, and of Merycodus, sl graceful little animal 

 of the Miocene epoch intermediate between the Deer and the 

 Prong-horn Antelope. 



