Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-09-21
HOW THE HORSE CAME TO Be
One of Best Examples of Survi-
val of Prehistoric Animals.
Developed from the Size oe Fox "a
That of Modern Animal stnpL-
Ing Five Feet High.

cestry as far back as chat of the horse.
This animal, we'll known The world
over. has the longest pedigree on rec
ord; one probably over 3c01QU yeprs
old, dating back 10 what is known ~
the EOcene Age. thousard. Of years ne
fore the coming Of man. His concalogi-
cal tree is shown in the national mus
cum At Washington. where series of
and skulls depict some Of his more i'm
portant ancestors.
The horse of the Eocene or his fore
bear, rather, was known as Eohippus.
or dawn horse. He was about the size
of n fox, standing "A little more than ono
foot high. Eohppus lived in .io;th
America, where he ran iightfootcdiy
over the Tertiary rocks on his we'll
developed four toed feet and three
toed hind feet. His front teeth
were not like those If modern
horse either, but were short crowned.
While scientists are unable to tell ue Just
how long his name was. II ne had any.
or the color of His hide they do know
the facts mentioned above, for his fossil
remains have been found in the rocks
strata known as the Lower E.ocene,
which is supposed to date back about
100000 years
1t is a fortunate thing that litt,e
Eohippus experienced the DEVELOPMENT
that he did, or became specialized as
the scientists say, for in his early form
such an animal would have been of hut
little service to us domestically. But
such was the case. he developed re-
markedly and It IS claimed that while
he is not on the same plane with man
mentally, Of course he is more highly
specialized anatomicaly. His physique
developed as his needs required. He
could not fight much 90 had to run
away; his speed developed until to-day
he is seen to he fleet footed. strong.
both for bearing packs and pulling loads.
and to this end his size. feet, teeth and
other parts developed with his advance
down the ages. At his early age when
he was called Eohippus, the horse was
a most insignificant creature as com.
pared to his contemporaries. the great
huking brutes called the Uintathereg
and Coryphodonts. But strange as IL
may seem, his posterity has outlive,i
them ala fine example Of the survival
of the fittest. The horse is one Of the
best known examples of the survival of
prehistoric animals
EXHIBITS SHOW DEVELOPMENT
An exhibit illustrating the development
of the horse is shown in the United
States National Museum, at Washing
ton. y. C.. in the halls of the division Of
vertebrate paleontology. which includes
all the fossil animals having bachboucs
Most of the specimens are compet-
bones. partly turned to stone and founa
imbedded in rock in several localities il
the Eohippus. comes first, showing his
four toed front feet and his three toed
hind feet, as well as his teeth and sliui:
OF that time As the next advanced
stage. we find the bones Of some-
what larger animal Of the ONsorene
period. known as Mesophppus. com
paratively about the size If sheep WITH
three toes on all its feet, the one on tho
front feet having proved superfIuous.
nature saw to it that it disappeared; is
teeth have also advanced a bit. to as
sist it in feeding, as may be seen in thv
exhibition case. Next, in the Alioceue.
a little later period, there lived numer.
Gus large horses called MeryChippus.
Neohippariou, Protophippus. etc. The
foot bones of these animals show three
toes on each foot, but with the middle
toe much lar@er than its companions,
while the teeth are seen to be longer and
deeper crowned. In fact, this type be-
gins to look more like regular horse
/ In the next step, the Pliocene. are seen
still more specialized forms. Plotohippus
and Plohippus, the later and some other
species, having but single toe on each
foot. which soon developed a single hoot,
their adjacent or auxiliary toes having
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