The Deseado Formation of PatagoniaLoomis, Frederic Brewster
Science
The Deseado Formation of Patagonia
Loomis, Frederic Brewster
Paleontology -- Patagonia (Argentina and Chile)
The lower dentition is more reduced than the upper. When in position,
the tips of the two lower tushes diverge, so as to come in contact with
the tips of the second upper tushes, from which I conclude that the
lower tush is the second, rather than the first incisor, the latter
having been lost when the second became enlarged as was the case in
elephants. This lower tush has the same oval cross section, enamel
on the front face only, and beveled tip as the corresponding upper
incisor; but, in the same individual, is somewhat longer and slenderer.
When isolated, however, it is difficult to tell whether one is handling
a small upper tush or a larger lower one.
The remaining incisors, the canine, the first and the second premolars
are wanting, and their place is taken by a small diastema. The lower
premolars and the molars are similar to those of the upper jaw, except
the cingulum is on the posterior margin, and the wear is on the
posterior face of each transverse crest.
The skull is very long and narrow, with wide and deep zygomatic arches.
The nasal opening is moved back from the front of the snout to just
opposite the orbit, leaving a long, narrow, but heavy snout, made up
mostly of the premaxillae, on the anterior end of which is an oval
boss, which must have served as an attachment for muscles. With the
tushes developed so as to bite against each other, as in a gnawing
animal, I can not see any possibility for the development of a pendant
proboscis, but think that the snout must have been developed more
like that of a pig, but probably to a greater degree. The premaxillae
are long and heavy, and prolonged backward to contain the roots of
the great tushes; but these bones are not developed on the palatal
side of the snout at all. The maxillae are also massive, carrying
the premolars and molars, and extending forward to the bases of the
tushes. They have developed downward so as to carry the plane of the
palate far below the plane of the basicranium, and causing the upward
bend in the basicranial axis, which is so characteristic of elephants.
This bend leaves the occipital condyles a full foot above the plane of
the teeth. The maxilla extends upward so as to bound the major part of
anterior margin of the nasal opening, and of the orbit, which latter
opening is small and directed forward. The zygomatic process is large
and makes a considerable portion of the arch. The jugal is a broad flat
bone making up most of the zygomatic arch and extending back so as to
take a small part in making the glenoid fossa, as in elephants.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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