The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1875-02-05
= WagDERs or CREATION

more tharr @25,U0Q an hour-$5OO
minuteYt
l, ~WaxDERs on oREA T1oM
E Some singular snd' important discov-
cribs vefes made / ~ Prof. Cope. the
great naturalist. who accompanied the
Wheeler exploring expedition upon its
geological survey wess of the one hum
dredth meridian, last summer and fall
Between Pueblo and Santa Fe numer-
GUS fossil shells and teeth of extinct
fishes were picked up.a&As. unique coli
lection of large number of most beau
tifnlly- invertebrate remains
was procured near Taos. South of the
/ IPic6rfs mountains, the sand beds and
bluffs of the pliocene. formation FIJI the
valley of the Rio Grande: These are
Aieg egaeposits of a lake Of comparatively
modern age, and n.some localities they
abound in remains of the skele-
tonsi of the animals that inhabited the
surrounding continent at that time.
Mastodons of species quite different
from that SO frequently found in the
Eastern States were found to be album
'dant, while camels and horses had evi-
denfly existed in. droves. One of the
most. singular discoveries was that of
deer which did not shed their horns, IS
do modern species of Chat type; but
there was abundant reason to believe
that they were frequently broken off
in combats. To keep the herbivereus
animals in cheeks there. were, several
species of wild dogs, while to eat them
when life had departed, a large vulture,
allied to the turkey buzzard, was pre-
pared, as the fossil remains. demon
strate.
Forty miles south of Santa iFe nu-
merous~ fossil remains were found, In
cluding those of the hairy elephant.
On the River Charna was discovered
an enormous mass of 1acustrine depos-
its of some 5000 feet in thickness,
which cover an area of at least 5000
square miles (probab1y more), which
include remains of the nldest mamma-
han fauna of this continent, and which
correspond to the lowest of the fossil
bearing beds of Wyoming. About 100
species of animals were obtained, Of
which two thirds are manamalia, and a
large percentage new, to science, The
crocodles were very. numerous, and
turtles swarmed. The mammalia did
notembrace many of the modern classes,
but exhibit, according to the prelimi-
nary reports published by order of
Lieut.. Wheeler, characters .of orders
of which little has been known. The
largest species were those of the genus
Bathmodon, of which Eve species were
discovered, which. range from the size
of the Indian rhinoceros 10 that of the
tapir. They resemb1ed closely the ele-
phaht in the structure of the feet and
legs, but the tapir and the bear in the
character of the skull. They were
armed with most fefmtd BILE tusks, and
their crania were SOLID and well thick
ened to repel attack. Besides these
there we're numerous species more
nearly resembling the tapirs, and in
some remote degree the horses, of
more harmless type, while numerous
population of carnivoras restricted the
increase Of the rest. Sixteen species
of fesh-eating forms were found, some
of them minute, and others of powerful
make, but all far removed from the ex-
isting types, and more or less related
in structure to other kinds of quadru-
peds.s especially to those of insectivor--
GUS habits Some Of them possessed
teeth of extraordinary strength, and
were apparently bone Breakers, while
the excessively worn condition Of the
hard def and friction against resisting
bodies. a5sfs..l. IS & .-z4.iAa /