Identifier: scienceguide1630amer (find matches)
Title: Guide leaflet
Year: 1901 (1900s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: American Museum of Natural History Natural history
Publisher: New York : The Museum
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: IMLS / LSTA / METRO

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
ltatherium. Upper and lower jaws. Small primitive animals with unspecialized teeth resembling thoseof lemurs. Only fragmentary specimens have been found, and butlittle is known about them. They are the most ancient group of theCreodonts and appear to have been nearest to the central stock fromwhich the other Creodonts and Carnivores are descended. They arefound onlv in the Basal Eocene. Arctocyoxid^. Types: Arctocyon, skull (cast); Clcenodon, jaws and feet; Anacodon,jaws. Bear-like omnivorous Creodonts with sharp canine teeth and thecrowns of the molars flattened and wrinkled on the surface. Theanimal walked on the entire sole of the foot, and had large sharpclaws like the modern bears. As in all these ancient mammals thebrain was very small, as can be seen in the skull of Arctocyon. Pal^onictid^;. Palceonictis, front of skull and jaws. This rare and primitive group of Creodonts is thought bysome authors to be the remote ancestor of the Cat family. Itis found only in the Lower Eocene.
Text Appearing After Image:
FOSSIL CARN1V0RA 13 OXY.FXin.K. Types: Oxyama and Patriofelis, skeletons. Somewhat resembling the larger Mustelines, such as the Otter andthe Wolverine, with short heavy jaws adapted to seize and holdtheir prey, with long body and with short powerful limbs adaptedfor leaping, climbing or swimming, but not for swift running. Thetail was extraordinarily long, and was larger than in any of the mod-ern Carnivora. The teeth were adapted for flesh-eating, the firstupper and second lower molar being enlarged and specialized forcutting the flesh. (See Fig. 5.) Oxyama, from the Lower Eocene, was about as large as aWolverine. The head is disproportionately large, and the tail as long as the entire body and head. The brain-case is verysmall, and the space for jaw-muscles very large, the whole organ-ization much inferior to that of modern flesh-eaters. Powerfuland savage it no doubt was, but far from having the keen intel-ligence, speed and endurance of the Carnivora of to-day. The mounted skelet

Note About Images