Texas Fossils: An Amateur Collector's HandbookMatthews, William Henry
Science
Texas Fossils: An Amateur Collector's Handbook
Matthews, William Henry
Paleontology -- Texas
Pantodonts, known also as _amblypods_, were primitive, hoofed,
herbivorous animals. They were distinguished by a heavy skeleton, short
stout limbs, and blunt spreading feet. The pantodonts appeared first
during Paleocene time and had become extinct by the end of the
Oligocene.
Order Dinocerata.—
The members of this order are an extinct group of gigantic mammals
commonly called _uintatheres_. _Uintatherium_ (Pl. 48), which is typical
of the group, had three pairs of blunt horns, and the males had
dagger-like upper tusks. Some of the uintatheres were as large as a
small elephant and stood as much as 7 feet tall at the shoulders. The
size of the brain in relation to the size of the body suggests that
these animals were not as intelligent as most mammals. Uintatheres are
known from rocks ranging from Paleocene to Eocene in age. Uintathere
remains have been reported from Big Bend National Park in Trans-Pecos
Texas.
Order Proboscidea.—
The earliest proboscideans, the elephants and their relatives, first
appeared in the late Eocene of Africa and were about the size of a small
modern elephant but had larger heads and shorter trunks. Proboscidean
development is marked by an increase in size, change in skull and tooth
structure, and elongation of the trunk. Two well-known fossil
proboscideans are the _mammoth_ and the _mastodon_, both of which
inhabited Texas during Pleistocene time. The mastodons resembled the
elephants, but the structure of their teeth was quite different (fig.
25). Moreover, the mastodon skull was lower than that of the elephant
and the tusks were exceptionally large—some reaching a length of 9 feet.
[Illustration: Plate 47
CENOZOIC MAMMALS]
DINOBASTIS × ¹/₂₀
CANIS DIRUS × ¹/₁₅
HYRACOTHERIUM × ¹/₁₀
PLIOHIPPUS × ¹/₂₀
There were several types of mammoths, and the _woolly mammoth_ is
probably the best known. This animal lived until the end of the
Pleistocene and, like the woolly rhinoceros discussed below, is known
from ancient cave paintings and frozen remains. Information gathered
from these sources indicates that this great beast had a long coat of
black hair with a woolly undercoat (Pl. 49).
[Illustration: Fig. 25. Sketches of Pleistocene (a) mastodon tooth (×⅙)
and (b) mammoth tooth (×⅙).]
During the Pleistocene, mammoths were widespread over the United States,
and their remains are abundant in many stream deposits of this age.
Proboscidean bones have been reported from Pleistocene rocks in many
parts of Texas, where they are commonly found in sand and gravel pits.
Order Perissodactyla.—
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