. A guide to the fossil mammals and birds in the Department of Geology and Palæontology in the British Museum (Natural History) .. . iraffe, &c). In this group areplaced a remarkable series of animals, all of which (with theexception of the Giraffe) are extinct. The most prominentform placed in this case is the Sivatherium, a huge beastdescribed by Falconer and Cautley from the older Piocenedeposits of the Siwalik Hills, India. It had two pairs of hornson its head, two short and simple in front, and two largerpalmated ones behind them. From the persistent character ofthese bony horn-cores, we
. A guide to the fossil mammals and birds in the Department of Geology and Palæontology in the British Museum (Natural History) .. . iraffe, &c). In this group areplaced a remarkable series of animals, all of which (with theexception of the Giraffe) are extinct. The most prominentform placed in this case is the Sivatherium, a huge beastdescribed by Falconer and Cautley from the older Piocenedeposits of the Siwalik Hills, India. It had two pairs of hornson its head, two short and simple in front, and two largerpalmated ones behind them. From the persistent character ofthese bony horn-cores, we may certainly regard this animal asa gigantic four-homed ruminant, having a resemblance insome structural characters to the giraffe, in others to theantelope. Pier-case,No. 14. The Giraffeand Sivathe-rium. 56 Artiodactyla—Sivatherium, etc. Head ofSivatheriumStand I. A cast of the original craniuni of Sivatherium, with, thehorn-cores restored from actual parts, in the collection andelsewhere, has been placed on a stand in the centre of thegallery adjacent to the case containing the skull and otherportions of the -Skull of SivatheriuM giganteum (Falc. <fc Cautl.), from the Lower Pliocene deposits,Siwalik Hills, India (the horns restored). Helladothe-rium, &e. Pier-case,No. 14. A hornless skull of a nearly allied animal, from the sameformation and locality, is placed with Sivatherium, and wasconsidered by Dr. Falconer and other palaeontologists to bethe skull of the hornless female ; but it is now referred, bymore recent writers, to a distinct genus (Helladotheriuni),whose remains were first discovered at Pikermi, near Athens,Greece. The Hydaspitherium from the Siwaliks of India, and theBramatherium from Perim Island, Gulf of Cambay, are alliedgenera of large size. Remains of an extinct species of giraffe,(Giraffa sivalensis), also from the Siwaliks of India, are placedin the same case. The most striking new type is a large ruminant, discoveredby Dr. Forsy
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectmammals, bookyear1896
