The Vertebrate SkeletonReynolds, Sidney H. (Sidney Hugh)
Science
The Vertebrate Skeleton
Reynolds, Sidney H. (Sidney Hugh)
Skeleton
The best known animals belonging to this suborder are the
Uintatheriidae (Dinocerata)[131], found in the Upper Eocene of
Wyoming. They are as large as elephants, and are characterised by the
long narrow skull drawn out into three pairs of rounded protuberances,
by the strong occipital crest, and by the very large upper canines.
_Suborder_ (5). PROBOSCIDEA.
This suborder includes the largest of land mammals, the Elephants, and
certain of their extinct allies. The limbs are strong, and are
vertically placed; the proximal segment is the longest, and the manus
and pes are pentedactylate and subplantigrade. The digits are all
enclosed in a common integument, and each is provided with a broad
hoof. The vertebral centra are much flattened and compressed,
especially in the cervical region. The number of thoracic vertebrae is
very great, reaching twenty. The skull (figs. 96 and 97) is extremely
large, this being due to the great development of air cells, which
takes place in nearly all the bones of the adult skull. In the young
skull there are hardly any air cells, and the growth of the cranial
cavity does not by any means keep pace with the growth of the skull in
general. The supra-occipital is very large, and forms a considerable
part of the roof of the skull. The nasals and jugals are short, and
the premaxillae very large. The rami of the mandible meet in a long
symphysis, and the ascending portion is very high. Canine teeth are
absent, and the incisors have the form of ever-growing tusks composed
mainly of dentine; in living forms they are present in the upper jaw
only. The grinding teeth are large, and in living forms have a very
complex structure and mode of succession. In some of the extinct
forms, such as _Mastodon_ and especially _Dinotherium_, the teeth are
much more simple. In every case the teeth have the same general
structure, consisting of a series of ridges of dentine, coated with
enamel. In the more specialised forms the valleys between the ridges
are filled up with cement. The acromion of the scapula has a recurved
process, similar to that often found in rodents. Clavicles are absent.
The radius and ulna are not ankylosed, but are incapable of any
rotatory movement. All the bones of the extremities are very short and
thick; the scaphoid articulates regularly with the trapezoid and the
lunar with the magnum. The ilia are vertically placed, and are very
much expanded; the ischia and pubes are small, and form a short
symphysis. The femur has no third trochanter, and the tibia and fibula
are distinct. The fibula articulates with the calcaneum, and the
astragalus is very flat.
* * * * *
Here brief reference may be made to the TILLODONTIA[132], a group of
extinct mammals found in the Eocene beds of both Europe and North
America. They seem to connect together the Ungulata, Rodentia, and
Carnivora.
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