Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-07-23
BY GARRETT P. sERvIss. :

The addition of a mounted skeleton
of7that most extraordinary creature the
Arisonitherium to the Gallery of Fossil
Mammals at the British Museum OF
Natural History marks an event OF real
Importance. 1t is the only complete
skeleton yet mounted, and II is, besides,
one of the most remarkable animals in
that gallery of wonderful beasts.
Standing about six feet high at the
withers, It resembles, in its general ap-
pearance, a rhinoceros. II differs, how
ever, entirely from this animal in the
singular armature of the head. In the
rhinoceros, 1t will be remembered, the
snout is surmounted by a great horn,
in the African species there are two
horns, one behind the other.
These differ entirely from the horns
of ruminants, such as antelopes and
cattle, for instance, for in them these
weapons are formed OF bony outgrowths
of the skull ensheathed in a horny case
In the rhinoceros the horns are formed
Of a solid mass of matted hairs. and
have no supporting skeleton. The horns
of the arisnoitherium were of the remit
nant type-that is to say, they were
formed OF bony outgrowths covered with
a horny sheath. There were two pairs of
these in this great beast--a huge pair.
placed side by side above the eyes, and
much smaller pair between the eyes
and ears.
From the general build of the animal
it is pretty certain that 1t was a browser,
and conveyed food to its mouth by
means Of a long, prehensile lip. In
the shape Of IL limbs, as may be seen
in the skeleton. 1t resembled both the
elephant and the rhinoceros-that Is to
say, its legs were massive and pillar
like. This is a common type OF leg in
animals with bulky bodies, and Is no
indication OF kinship. There Is one pc.
culisr feature of this skeleton. however.
for which no explanation is forthcoming.
and that Is the singular forwardly di-
rected curvature Of the ribs in the middle
of the body.
As TO the precise relationship of this
animal nothing is known. but It seems
probable that It IL distinctly related TO
the little dassies or rockconies which
abound in Africa to this day. The discov-
cry OF the first remains Of arsinoitherium
made a great sensation some ten years
ago. They were found in the Fsyum, the
lake province Of Egypt, occupying a de-
preston in the desert to the west of the
Nile valley some seven-and-fifty miles
south OF Cairo.
Ages ago this district was occupied by
huge lake surrounded by vast jungles
lswarming with a host Of strange beasts
\ long since extinSt Some OF these. since
they were contemporaries of arisinoithe-
rum. deserve special mention here. First
and foremost come the primitive ele-
plants discovered by DIT. Charles An
drews of the British Museum. The earliest
OF these which appeared on the scene
while arsinOitherium was yet in the
making was the little moeritherium, a
creature Of about the size OF a large pig.
and bearing no resemblance TO an ele-
plant whatever. This was succeeded by
the palaeomastodon. This may be de-
scribed as a pigIsy elephant. but differing
conspicuously from the elephants OF to-
day in having the lower Jaw prodigiously
prolonged and armed at the tip with a
pair OF short. chisel-liks teeth
The upper Jaw bore pair OF short tuslrs
destined to achieve huge size In the dis
tant future. The descendants OF this