Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1913-07-04

IL oioO ttiid' W SuPpOlb bHC lntOIy VI
the existence of a wide Asiatic-Alas-
kan land connection of comparatively
recent date, which for great length If
time served as highway for the mi
grafton of mammals from the Old
World to America.
The footbone found by Mr.. Amory is
Enthusiastically that of mel and close
ly resembles similar bones of a living
species
A not less interesting acquisition of
the National Museum is the fossil skull
Of horse which is reported on by DR..
o. P. Hay of the Carnegie institution,
in the Smi thsonan miscellaneous collec-
tons, under the title Description of
the Skull of an Extinct Horse Found in
Central Alaska"
This skull was found by C. P. Sny-
der in the cours o. mining operations
near Tolty, Alaska, snail mining
town situated on Sullivan's Creek
about "a miles southwest of Rampant,
and seven miles northwest of Hot
Springs.
The skull is remarkably we'll pre-
served, stained brown and although
thoroughly mineralized, retains its orig
inal structure. 1t is somewhat broken
on the top part of the nose, and the
lower jaw S missing, but the teeth are
in fine condition.
It's Importance is enhanced by the
Ict that hitL erto our knowledge of
Alaskan horses has been basel on very
scant remains, such as single teeth, or
very few teeth associated tegether
and few bones or fragments of them
Such remains had been found, however,
at a number of places; and, meager as
they were, they showed that at some
time in the past horses had been wide
ly distributed in this apparently barren
region.
With his report. DR.. Hay published
map showing the localitie, where
evidences of fossil horses have been
found in Alaska and Yukon, as far as
they have come to his notice, and also
mentions the other finds and their 10.
cation, making many technical com.
parsons.
The horse whose skull has just come
to light was probably male of about
six years, as the upper canine teeth are
well developed. After making a serie:
Of carafnl moo c,,ra oopte followod nv
C mn arisons with all the material avail
able, the author concludes that thi!
specimen probably belonged to the
species which he recently described il
the proceedings of the Tn ted States
National Museum, under the name
Epuus niobral ensis, the horse living il
the region of the Niobrara formation
name fter the Niobl ara River, north
ern Nebraska, but as there appear to be
certain differences which make it proper
to recognize it as a distinct form, ht
has added the name alaskae.
1t differs f, ON the type form found il
Hay Springs, northwestern Nebraska
in that it is considerably smaller Othel
specimens of the same species have beer
recognized from teeth found in western
Texas, eastern Nebraska and western
Iowa.
DR.. Hay also mentions the fossil teeth
and leg bone of the horse found in Yukor
by Mr.. Amory, and says that one of the
upper molars presents a similar APP
pearance to that of the Alaskan horse
described in his aper. It's understood
that the horses which lived in NORTH
America during the pleisto .ene age
were probably derived from stock
which crossed over from Asia through
Alaska and then made their way over
nearly the whole of both North anC
South America
The paper includes IS pages, and i.
illustrated by two plates showing differ
ent views of the fossil skull, and Diet i
views of the teeth, upon which 81
much depends in the classification Of
mammals