El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-04-27
QUEER CREATURES WHICH WERE OUR OWN
IMMEDIATE PREDECESSORS
American Museum Completing Wonderful Collection
of Mammals That Became Extinct Not Long Before
Mankind Appeared Some Of Them Were Con
temporary With Earliest Humans.

lillian dynasties at the close OF ne
epoch known to biologists as the
MesOZOic was cOlncidenJ with the up
lifting Of the mighty chain previously
represented by a string OF more or less
scattered islands,. which today We
know as the Rocky mountains OIheL
tremendous geologic changes occurred
at that period, and resulting modlIl-
cations OF climate and terrestrial con
ditiOns may have had much to do with
the wiping out Of the amazing and
widely differentiated order Of the Din
OSauers. But doubtless their wholesale
destruction was attributable largely, II
not mainly, TO volcanoes, which dis
tributed their ashes over vast areas
to q depth Of thousands Of feet
Whatever the causes involved, the
giant reptiles disappeared, and were
succeeded by new forms Of u1e-that
is TO say by mammals of primitive
types. But it should by no means be
supposed that these were the first
mammals. Already there had been
mammals on the earth for long time,
and probably for at least a million
years; but they were small and Of min
or importance in the scheme Of crea-
ton Many Of them were rodents;
others were insect-eaters- They were
natures first experiments in the de-
velOpment of mammalian types
With the opening Of the age Of nam
mails began a rapid evolution OF crea-
lures Of this class. Contemporary with
the little horses ana LaplES IN NOIlu
America were certain apelike animals
with short faces and large eyes Also
there appeared bearlike cats and the
first TitauOtheres-an order destined
later on to become Of conspicuous and
dominant importance.
Food Abundant; Growth Unlimited.
Fin6ing conditions favorable to their
Development with an unlimited food
supply, some Of the animals Of that
epoch attained huge size. Those Of them
that were vegetable feeders, browsing
on the foliage Of trees and shrubs,
were clumsy and heavy llmoed-as
for example, the uintatherium, nearly
as big as q modern rhinOcerOs. with
four horns Like the COryphOOOn, al
ready mentioned, IL has no represen-
tatives in the world today. and the
same may be said OF the palaeOSyOpS
(distantIy related to the rhinOcerOs),
which was Of the bigness Of small
pony
Ane Of the most remarkable Of the
titanOtheres was the brOnuotherium,
approaching an elephant in size, and
representing type Of horned Crea-
lures which soon became the dominant
mammals Of Western America Accom-
panying them, and doubtless preying
upon them, were carnivOres as big as
modern Kodiak bears. and gigantic
cats-bOth Of families destined to ex-
tinCtiOn later on There were giant
pigs. and during this period appeared
the first true dogs
It is now that the rhinOCerOSes begin
20 appear and to develop a great va
riety Of species. In fact. from this
time on until comparatively recent
days they assume great Importance
both in the new world and the old
Some have long legs, and others sur
prisingly short legs; some are aquatic,
and others yet are dwarfs in size.
Giant pigs on stilted legs appear in
Europe and Asia, and in Africa become
ion he
Of nearly the bulk of an elephant,
with enormous sharp-pointed, forward
ly-prOjecting horns over the snOut and
a smaller pair above the eyes This
remarkable creature, short necSed,
'ong-Iegged, and Of grazing habit,
seems to be confined TO the Dark con
tinent, which as yet has no land con-
nectiOn with Europe or Asia
New Creatures Appear.
Meanwhile the ancestors Of ali the