SOME EARLY MAMMALS 
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work of the modern ruminant type ; ^ thus it resembled the ox 
in having an equally divided hoof, or rather two hoofs. Fig. 87, 
in which the skeleton is seen, shows that it possessed a long tail. 
In size it was about equal to a fallow deer, and the long tail 
has been supposed, perhaps erroneously, to indicate aquatic 
habits. Small and more delicate species have been taken to 
represent distinct genera. 
Judging from its habits of swimming and diving,” said 
Fig. 87. — Skeleton with restored outline of Anoplotherium commune, from 
Eocene strata. (After Cuvier.) 
Cuvier, “the Anoplotherium would have the hair smooth like 
the otter; perhaps its skin was even half naked. It is not 
likely, either, that it had long ears, which would be incon- 
venient in its aquatic kind of life ; and 1 am inclined to think 
that, in this respect, it resembled the hippopotamus and other 
1 Cuvier divided all the hoofed animals (ungulates) into two orders, 
pachyderms and ruminants. The former is a heterogeneous order, and has 
since been abandoned ; but the ruminants have been regarded as one of the 
most distinct of mammalian orders, for they are separated from all other 
animals by having horns and hoofs in pairs, the absence of upper front teeth, 
complex stomachs, and the habit of ruminating or “ chewing the cud.” 
Professor Owen showed that ungulates should be classified by the structure of 
their feet. He therefore divided them into odd-toed (perissodactylate) and 
even-toed (artiodactylate), and he placed elephants in a separate order — the 
Proboscidia. 
