The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle [vol. 1 of 5] : $b Fossil mammaliaOwen, Richard
Science
The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle [vol. 1 of 5] : $b Fossil mammalia
Owen, Richard
Beagle Expedition (1831-1836); Mammals, Fossil; Paleontology -- South America; Zoology
posterior half of this ridge suddenly produced, so as to project about
two lines further from the trochlear surface than the anterior part of
the same ridge. In both the Tapir and Palæothere this anterior part of
the ridge is wholly suppressed, and the posterior is much more feebly
developed than in the Macrauchenia. The metatarsal bone here described
is of exactly the same length with the internal metacarpal bone, and
proves, in conjunction with the proportions of the astralagus, that the
fore and hind-feet of the Macrauchenia were of equal size.
Thus then we obtain evidence, from a few mutilated bones of the trunk
and extremities of a single representative of its race, that there once
existed in South America a Pachydermatous quadruped, not proboscidian,
which equalled in stature the Rhinoceroses and Hippopotamuses of the old
world. But this, though an interesting and hitherto unsuspected fact, is
far from being the sum of the information which is yielded by these
fossils. We have seen that the single ungueal phalanx bespeaks a
quadruped of the great series of _Ungulata_, and this indication is
corroborated by the condition of the radius and ulna, which are fixed
immoveably in the prone position. Now in the Ungulated series there are
but two known genera,—the Rhinoceros and Palæotherium,—which, like the
quadruped in question, have only three toes on the fore-foot. Again, in
referring the Macrauchenia to the Tridactyle family of Pachyderms, we
find, towards the close of our analysis, and by a detailed comparison of
individual bones, that the Macrauchenia has the closest affinity to the
Palæotherium.
But the Palæotherium, like the Rhinoceros and Tapir, has the ulna
distinct from the radius, and the fibula from the tibia; so that even if
the Parisian Pachyderm had actually presented the same peculiarities of
the cervical vertebræ as the Patagonian one, it would have been
hazardous, to say the least, while ignorant of the dentition of the
latter, to refer it to the genus _Palæotherium_.
Most interesting, indeed will be the knowledge, whenever the means of
obtaining it may arrive, of the structure of the skull and teeth in the
Macrauchenia. Meanwhile, we cannot but recognise, in the anchylosed and
confluent state of the bones of the fore-arm and leg, a marked tendency
in it towards the Ruminant Order, and the singular modifications of the
cervical vertebræ have enabled us to point out the precise family of
that order, with which the Macrauchenia is more immediately allied.
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