Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1907-12-13
RICH FOSSIL FINDS.
Tiny Horse and Giant Bear Tusk
Unearthed In Wyoming.
PONY NO LARGER THAN A FOX.


Equine Home--Beavers the Size Of
Mice FOund--spseinsn of Huge Liz
ard Discovered.
That Wyoming was once a lilllputian
world. occupied by pygmy animals III
the likeness Of animals on earth today.
IL the scientific fact which paleontolo-
gists OF the wyoming State university
are preparing TO give to the world.
says a Cheyenne (wyo.) special dis
patch to the Cincinnati Commercial
Tribune.
Horses no larger than modern fox.
beavers the size Of mice, dogs as small
as coyotes and other animals built up
on the same miniature lines are now
known to have existed ir the noun
eains OF Wyoming millions OF years
ago. and their skeletons are now being
set up In the museum Of the State uni.
versity by Professor W. ii. Reed. pale
ontologist OF the university and curator
OF the museum OF natural history of
that institution.
Professor Reed spent the entire
summer in the great fossil beds Of
central Wyoming and says his dis
coveries therein are among the most
important ever reported to science. In
the past the discoveries in those beds
have been confined to animals built up
on tremendous lines, monsters of pro-
digious size and ferocity, but the dis
c0veries recently made public by
Professor Reed prove that the con-
trastn between the animals OF that
ancient time were ms great as between
those OF LilIiputia and Brobdingnag.
In fact, n Dean Swift had happened
into central Wyoming I'm those days he
might have believed he had actually
reached Lilliputh.
BY the securing Of the fossil Of the
little horse Professor Reed confirmed
the suFmise heretofore held that Wyo-
ming was the real birthplace of the
horse He has an almost complete
skeleton OF the antedlluvian horse,
showing that animal to have been no
larger than a fox of the present day,
but with every bone OF the present
horse and In much the same shape.
The little animal was evidently
hardy grnzer. capable OF much hard
ship in securing It's food. and even in
that early day the horse showed great
mwiftneas OF foot and possessed speed
sufficient TO enable 1t to keep out Of the
clutches Of flesh eating animals.
But Professor Reed attaches more
Importance to the fossil beaver than to
A. kaa ta etnrt
the aligocene tertiary age, one of the
oldest In which fossils are found. and
shows that that animal fourished at
that early period In the earth's exist
ence The specimen IL perfect skull
and upper jaw OF the rodent. The
skull IL less than half an inch long and
shows the beaver of that nge to have
been even smaller than an ordinary
mouse. The molars are only an eighth
Of an inch long and the lnclsora not
much longer.
He was also fortunate enough to se-
cure the complete skeleton OF a dog Of
the allgocene tertiary age, not bone
being missing The skeleton Is about
the size Of coyote OF the western
plains.
But II some OF the animals discover
I'd by Professor Reed were small 9TH
era be found were big enough to make
the average large. An important hnd
was the almost complete skull OF a calf
titanotherlum. monster OF that day
which was extinct long before some OF
the oldest FOSSILS heretofore found were
even created.
Not the least interesting OF the flnds
was the tusk Of a monster bear. the
big tusk indicating an animal weigh
ing about 2,00O pounds. The tnsk Ia
complete. but Is In three pieces. ana
shows an animal which must have been
a terror to the other animals In that
age.
A fossil Of one OF the great lizard
family was discovered in sandstone
elf, where Il can be seen stretched
out to It's fun length. high up on the
face OF the blum. Nearly seventy-tive
feet Of the great reptile can be seen.
preserved In solid rock.
Professor Reed says the feld he Wis
ited. called "Hell's Half Acre." is the
most remarkable fossil quarry In the
WOtAAs ~ auouuu3 III tNSAu EtGnAAuH
OF great value to science. and every
year all the large eastern universities
send Geld parties there to excavate and
10 add TO the museums
The fact that so many fossils are
found in the half Acre has led sci.
0ntists to believe that the whole sur
face Of the earth was changed by some
mighty eonYulslon Of nature and that
place was left as high point, the an
finals gathering there to escape tho
devastating foods.
Another theory Is that when some
great famine came upon the land this
spot was left the one OF all others
where food was plentiful. and all an
finals Of that day and time were at.
txacted there 70 die In some eataclysm
Vvhfah 2aFf 4ha faaau ,..p,al,a g.. A..