Texas Fossils: An Amateur Collector's HandbookMatthews, William Henry
Science
Texas Fossils: An Amateur Collector's Handbook
Matthews, William Henry
Paleontology -- Texas
The chalicotheres were in some ways like the titanotheres, but they also
exhibited many peculiarities of their own. The head and neck of
_Moropus_, a typical chalicothere, were much like that of a horse, but
the front legs were longer than the hind legs, and the feet resembled
those of a rhinoceros except that they bore long claws instead of hoofs.
The chalicotheres lived in North America from Miocene until Pleistocene
time but were probably never very numerous, and their remains have not
yet been discovered in Texas.
RHINOCEROSES.—
The rhinoceroses are also odd-toed animals, and there are many
interesting and well-known fossils in this group. The _woolly
rhinoceros_ (Pl. 49) was a Pleistocene two-horned form that ranged from
southern France to northeastern Siberia. The woolly rhinoceros is well
known from complete carcasses recovered from the frozen tundra of
Siberia and from remains that were found preserved in an oil seep in
Poland. These unusual specimens plus cave paintings made by early man
have given a complete and accurate record of this creature. Although the
woolly rhinoceros has not been reported from Texas, other fossil
rhinoceroses have been found in the High Plains and Gulf Coastal Plain
of Texas. These fossils have been found in rocks ranging from Middle
Oligocene to late Pliocene in age.
_Baluchitherium_, the largest land mammal known to science, was a
hornless rhinoceros that lived in late Oligocene and early Miocene time.
This immense creature measured approximately 25 feet from head to tail,
stood almost 18 feet high at the shoulder, and must have weighed many
tons. Remains of these creatures have not been discovered in North
America, and they appear to have been restricted to Central Asia.
Order Artiodactyla.—
The artiodactyls are the even-toed hoofed mammals and include such
familiar forms as pigs, camels, deer, goats, sheep, and hippopotamuses.
This is a large and varied group of animals, but the basic anatomical
structure of the limbs and teeth show well the relationship between the
different forms. Artiodactyls are abundant fossils in rocks ranging from
Eocene to Pleistocene in age and are common in rocks of this age in
Texas.
ENTELODONTS.—
These giant pig-like artiodactyls lived during Oligocene and early
Miocene time and were distinguished by a long heavy skull that held a
relatively small brain. The face was marked by large knobs which were
located beneath the eyes and on the underside of the lower jaw, and
although these knob-like structures were blunt they had the appearance
of short horns. Certain of these giant swine attained a height of 6 feet
at the shoulders and had skulls that measured 3 feet in length (Pl. 46).
Entelodont remains have been found in the Miocene of the Texas Coastal
Plain.
CAMELS.—
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