Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-08
SCIENTISTS SEEK
MONSTERS BONES
IN EXTINCT CRATER
Smithsonian Party Will Hunt
for Nothrotherium SkeIe-
ton in New Mexico.
SPECIES DESTROYED
MILLION YEARS AGO
Fissure, Home of Countless Bats,
Believed Trap for Ancient
Animal.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

4Ac oAelcCOu Oh d uOLIlrObneTlunl, a
weird creature which roamed over the
Southern United States million years
ago. is the object of Smithsonian In
stitution expedition which has just left
Washington for New Mexico.
The search will be conducted by N.
II. Boss Of the National Museum, and
w. L. Darby of the Peabody Museum
Of Natural History of Yale in the
assure of ali extinct volcanic crater on
Government land about 80 miles north
west Of Ell Paso, which promises to be
one of the richest repositories of fossil
material yet found. This fissure, about
100 feet deep, for hundreds of centuries
has been a natural trap into which
rowing animals fell and persisted At
the same time the extremely dry atmos-
phere has evidently preserved the
bones.
The nothrotherium was a mammal
whose type has entirely disappeared
from the earth, although it leaves dis
tant relatives in the sloths of South
America. It presumably was about the
size OF a large bear, hal a heavy coat
Of hair, defended itself by its hind legs,
and lived in dense jungles where it was
safe from the predacious mammals of
IT'S time. such as the saber- toothed
tigers, who were creatures of the open
spaces. 1t lived on leaves and berries
and probably was one of the slowest,
clumsiest and dumbest of mammals.
Existed in Numbers.
1t existed in considerable numbers
during the Pleistocene period and then
was eXterminated. The determination.
psychologists believe, probably was due
to period Of excessive drought, which
forced 1t out of the protecting jungleS
IN search Of food and left it a prey to
the ferociouS meat-eaters. In the days
OF the nothrotherium the vegetation of
the southwest was more luxuriant than
today and offered a refuge for many
curious animals which drifted north
from South America, where the most
striking fossils of the giant sloth fam
lily still are seen. They extended south
ward to Patagonia. Probably they never
were the dominant form of life on either
continent and were of such curious
structure that they could survive only
under especially favorable conditions.
SkGlCLOu
OF the nothrotherium had never been
found. 1t was represented in the Ma
tlonal Museum by few bones, from
which a conjectural representation of
the whole animal was built I'D. Then
all the museums Of the country received
a letter from a Texan telling of a
strange skeleton he had found while
exploring the desert and Offering it for
sale. His description led to the belief
that 1t was nothrotherium, and the
find was purchased by the Peabody
Museum. It was one of the best ancient
fossils ever found in this country
Practically every bone was in place, and
there were patches of skin and hair.
On Government Land.
Then the National Museum found
that the volcanic fissure was on public
land, and that any skeleton found there
was automatically the property of the
Government. 1t waived its rights to
Yale, however, upon the agreement for
a joint expedition which would carry
out extensive excavations and share In
what was found.
The fisSure for centuries has been
the home of countless bats and the
bodies Of whatever prehistoric beasts
under great deposit of guano. The
expedition will attempt to remove layer
after layer Of this. There is a posi-
bility Of uncovering the bones of other
creatures Of the middle pleistocene
period, some Of which may be unknown
to science. The distinctive fauna of
this period, overlapping as it does many
OF the animal groups of today, is SUBJ
ject OF frequent dispute. 1t is only I'M
der exceptional circumstances that an
articulAted skeleton will survive for
! 100000 years and it is necessary to
draw a great deal of the picture of ex-
tinct life from scattered fragments.
While Mr.. Boss is excavating this
fissure, DR.. j. w. Gidley of the division
OF vertebrate paleontology will con-
duct further excavations at Melbourne,
Fla, where he already has stirred up
a warm scientific dispute by finding
human bones mingled with the remains
OF extinct animals, presumably of the
Pleistoscene- period. DR.. Gidley will
look for more human remains and
artifactS and make close examination
OF the geological strata. Anthropolog-
lists, led by DR.. AleS Hrdlicka of the
Institution, are convinced
that man Is a comparatively recent
aAAAVuA Al 1NOIbk1 k1L1lCIlCd, Cunning 1TOm
Asia by way Of Kamchatka and Alaska.
Gidley points to his findings as evidence
either that man was in this continent
much earlier than the anthropologistS
believe or that the extinct fauna was
living up to comparatively recent times.
This was the subject of a debate before
the National Academy of Sciences last
year and Gidley's further excavations
may reopen the whole subject.
Melbourne Area Opportunity.
The Melbourne area, the National
Museum Psychologists claim, offers an
exceptional opportunity for differentiat-
ing the remains of the different ages
of life which have passed over the sec
tion because the geological strata are
so well defined.
New fuel has Just been added to the
controversy by DR.. Oliver p. Hay Of
the National Museum In his interpreta-
ton Of flint arrowhead recently dis
covered In PleiStoScene deposits In a
sandpit at Frederick, OKLA. which also
yielded skeletal remains Of about IS
extinct animals. All the circumstances,
he says, point to this being an early
Pleistoscene deposit and the evidence
points to the conclusion that man came
from Asia at very early date, bringing
to this country an advanced handicraft
in the making of arrows which did
not reach Europe until much later.
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