Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-25
BONES: ICONS OLD
% III
Unearthing Ancestors of Our
Domestic Pets.
RECENT DISCOVERIES
THE FIRST HORSE SMALL AND
SWIFT.
Dogs, Pigs and Pussy Cats as Recon-
structed From Their Fossil
Remains.

Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
How many of the thousands who throng
the race tracks of the country each year
realize that only yesterday, as geological
time Is reckoned, the horse was no larger
than fox-terrier, had four toes, ana pos
sessed such marvellous speed that he would
make modern Herms or Beldame look
like the proverbial selling platter? Or to
carry the question into the field of the
other domesticated animals, it is doubtful
if the possessor of some particularly blue
blooded bulldog or Angora cat is aware OF
the transformation these favored animals
have undergone in their structure and hab-
it's in the many centuries Of the earths
evolution.
Yet the transformation has been truly
wonderful, and the scientists of the world
who have labored for many years among
the fossil remains of the birds and beasts
gathered from the four quarters of the
earth have just now succeeded in estap-
fishing an almost unbroken line of ancestry
for the horse, dog and cat families from
the earliest known geological period OF the
earth's history down through the present
period of the age of man.
America Leads the Way.
1t will probably be pleasing to those VINO
are at all interested in these domestcateo
anmals-and he is surely an abnormal per-
son who does not feel some interest in
them-to know that America has led the
way in this work and that 1t was that
great patron of the turf the late William
c. Whitney, who rendered possible the
wonderful discoveries anent the horse
which have been made during the past four
years For some time prior to 1901 Prof
Henry F. Osborn of the American Museum
of Natural History had been DESTROYS OF
II prt a a.
of fossil horses in the hope of solving GER
tain problems in the evolution of that ami
NAL. He was, however handicapped in his
desire by lack of funds.
Mr.. Whitney became interested in Prof
Osborns project, and established fund
sufficiently large to send out three explor-
ing parties each summer for the special
purpose of discovering the remains of fossil
horses. Unfortunately Mr. Whitney did
not live to see the immense success which
resulted from bis benefactions, but his
name will, nevertheless, always be asso-
ciated with the work. Through the discov-
cries made during these explorations the
complete ancestry of the horse was estab-
lshed down to the age of man. and but
one link now remains to be found in order
to complete the chain of proof that the
true horse, that is, the horse as he exists
today, had his origin in America instead
of in Asia-the view commonly held by 20
ologiSts.
The Horse of Three Million Years Ago.
The history of the horse, as 1t is now
known through the unceasing effort of
Prof Osborn and his assistants, is intensely
interesting, even to those who lack the sci
entific temperament. The earliest complete
skeleton Of the horse, in the possession of
the American Museum is that of the So
called "four-toed' horse, discovered by DR..
J. l.. Workman in the Wyoming Badlands.
This is fossil specimen of what is known
to the scientist as the middle Eocene pc
Rod. For the benefit Of those initiated in
the formidable term of geology 1t should be
explained that the Eocene is the earliest
division Of the tertiary period of the age
of mammals-the time in the worlds his
tory when mother earth began to assume
something of her present appearance, in
the character of the animals and plants,
in the height of the mountains, and in the
distribution of land and sea. This period
has been placed about three million years
ago, mere drop in the bucket to The geol-
ogists.
No complete specimen of any earlier fos-
sill horse exists, though scattered fragments
have enabled psychologists to obtain
fairly clear idea of the structure of this
primitive animal. DR.. Matthew, one Of
Prof. OSborn's assistants, believes that the
earliest horse closely resembled fox-ter-
rier in size and form, being about eleven
inches high, and the proud possessor of five
toes instead of the four belonging to the
more highly developed animal. This lat
ter-the four-toed horse of the American
MuSeum-SnOWS MS advancement, also, III
his slightly increased size of thirteen inch
es and half, well as a very noticeable
tendency to rest his weight on one toe.
Modern Racers outclassed.
1t was in connection with the fossils of
the succeeding geological period-the So
called Miocene age-that the Whitney ex-
plorers secured their best results. The most
notable specimen found was, that of the
"deer-Hke" horse which, in honor of Mr..
Whitney, was given the name of 'Neohip-
parton Whitney" This animal, a mare,
had apparently sought refuge with five
young colts from a storm, but, strange to
say, had not been found by any other wild
animals, so that the skeleton was in a re-
markably good state of preservation, the
rib cartridges and the tip of the tail being
found in place. 1t is this animal which
Prof. Osborn believes was the superior OF
any modern thoroughbred racer. 1t was
delicately proportional, and beyond a doubt
exceedingly swift. Its frame according to
the museum experts, was of such a struc-
ture as to enable it to outstrip any modern
horse whatever. In the process of develop
ment the "Neohipparion' had lost one toe,
but three now remaining, while at the same
time it had increased in stature to the size
of the average Shetland pony.
Where the Break Occurs.
Coming down through the various stages
of the evolutionary process, to the period
Immediately preceding the age of man, the
same course Of development has been
traced, though it is precisely here that the
one break in the family history OF the
horse occurs. Although his direct ancestry
is reasonably clear and distinct down to
the point at which the triple division into
the true horse, ass and zebra breeds took
place, no specimen has been found as con-
meeting link between the prehistoric horse
and the animal as he.exists today. Could
this link be found In the western fossil
fields 1t would prove beyond the shadow of
a doubt that the true horse originated in
America At. present. this question is con-
siderably obscured, though the evidence
now available favors the American theory.
Prof Osborn enters that the true horse
really came from America from the appear
ance, in the Pliocene period in India, of
certain true horse species of which no
ancestor can be found in either Europe or
Asia, and also from the simultaneous ap-
pearance in the same regions and at the
same geological time Of the camel-an ami
NAL known to be of American origin. It is
to the discovery of the missing link that
the exploring parties to be sent out by the
museum next summer will devote their best
efforts.
Animal Return to Nature.
Prof Osborn himself Is making an ex-