A History of Land Mammals in the Western HemisphereMacmillan, 1937 - 786 pages |
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ancestor antelopes antlers armadillos artiodactyls Asia Bridger brontotheres camels carnivores Casa Mayor cats characteristic claws co-ossified continent cranium crests cusps deer dentition Deseado digits elephants elongate enamel Eocene extinct fauna femur fibula foreodonts fossils genera genus grinding teeth Hemisphere Homalodotherium hoofed animals horns horses humerus hypsodont incisors John Day known larger later less Litopterna low-crowned lower jaw lower Miocene lower molars mammalian mammals manus marsupials metacarpals middle Miocene Miocene modern molars nearly neck Nesodon North America Notoungulata Old World Oligocene pair Paleocene Pampean peccaries perissodactyls Pleistocene Plio Pliocene posterior premolars primitive probably proboscideans Pyrotheria region relatively resemblance rhinoceroses sagittal crest Santa Cruz shape short skeleton skull slender smaller South species stage structure subfamily suborder tail tapirs Tertiary tooth Toxodon Toxodonta transverse tusks Uinta ulna ungulates upper canine upper incisors upper Miocene upper molars vertebræ White River
Popular passages
Page 53 - All the small rivers became highly saline, and this caused the death of vast numbers in particular spots ; for when an animal drinks of such water it does not recover. Azara describes* the fury of the wild horses on a similar occasion, rushing into the marshes, those which arrived first being overwhelmed and crushed by those which followed.
Page 53 - Callabonna, that will be afterwards described, in the fact that its bed has lately been shown to be a veritable necropolis of gigantic extinct Marsupials and Birds, which have apparently died where they lie, literally in hundreds. The facts that the bones of individuals are often unbroken, close together and frequently in their proper relative positions, the attitude of many of the bodies and the character of the matrix in which they are embedded, negative any theory that they have been carried thither...
Page 53 - The period included between the years 1827 and 1830 is called the "gran seco," or the great drought. During this time so little rain fell, that the vegetation, even to the thistles, failed; the brooks were dried up, and the whole country assumed the appearance of a dusty high road. This was especially the case in the northern part of the province of Buenos Ayres and the southern part of St.
Page 53 - I was informed by an eye-witness that the cattle, in herds of thousands, rushed into the Parana, and being exhausted by hunger they were unable to crawl up the muddy banks, and thus were drowned.
Page 53 - Without doubt several hundred thousand animals thus perished in the river; their bodies, when putrid, were seen floating down the stream ; and many in all probability were deposited in the estuary of the Plata. All the small rivers became highly saline, and this caused the death of vast numbers in particular spots ; for when an animal drinks of such water it does not recover. Azara describes...
Page 44 - Man there are two incisors, one canine, two premolars and three molars on each side of...
Page 3 - Linmeus to segregate all the mammiferous animals — the hairy quadrupeds, the bats, the sirenians, and the cetaceans — in a single class. No one before had appreciated the closeness of the relations of the. several types, and there was no name for the new class (or concept) as there was for all his other classes. A name, therefore, had to be devised. It was another happy inspiration that led Linna?us to name the class "mammalia.
Page 53 - The accumulation of so many bodies in one locality points to the fact of their assemblage around one of the last remaining oases in the region of desiccation which succeeded an antecedent condition of plenteous rains and abundant waters. An identical explanation has been suggested by Mr. Daintree ' in his ' Notes on the Geology of the Colony of Queensland.
Page 42 - When, in the standing position, the entire sole of the foot is in contact with the ground...
Page 128 - ... ...Humidity and other secondary causes determine the presence or absence of particular species in particular localities within their appropriate zones, but temperature predetermines the possibilities of distribution ; it fixes the limits beyond which species cannot pass ; it defines broad trans-continental belts within which certain forms may thrive if other conditions permit, but outside of which they cannot exist, be the other conditions never so favourable.