Geology . dd-toedungulates which arose late in the Eocene, reached their climax in theOligocene (White River), and then suddenly disappeared. They wereintermediate in proportions between the rhinoceros and the elephant,and were distinguished by a long, depressed skull armed with a pair ofhorns near the extremity of the nose, as wrere their kin the rhinoceroses,but placed transversely, as in the ox (Fig. 439). They reached somefourteen feet in length and ten in height. There were many variationswith age and sex, and several genera have been founded on these THE EOCENE PERIOD. 255 variations (Br
Geology . dd-toedungulates which arose late in the Eocene, reached their climax in theOligocene (White River), and then suddenly disappeared. They wereintermediate in proportions between the rhinoceros and the elephant,and were distinguished by a long, depressed skull armed with a pair ofhorns near the extremity of the nose, as wrere their kin the rhinoceroses,but placed transversely, as in the ox (Fig. 439). They reached somefourteen feet in length and ten in height. There were many variationswith age and sex, and several genera have been founded on these THE EOCENE PERIOD. 255 variations (Brontops, Titanops, Megaceratops, Diconodon. Haplacodon,Symborodon, Menodus). They were American and apparently rather-local in distribution. The elotheres were large pig-like animals, constituting a temporary,highly specialized side branch of the even-toed ungulates, allied to theSuidce. They appeared in North America in the White River stage,and continued into the John Day (Miocene) stage, and were present. Fig. 440.—An interpretation of the general appearance of the elotheres, or giantpigs, of the White River epoch, drawn by Charles R. Knight under suggestionsfrom Osborn and Scott, based on a skeleton in the Princeton Museum. (Fromdrawing in American Museum of Natural History. Copyrighted by the Museum ) also in Europe. An interpretation of their general appearance byKnight is shown in Fig. 440. The Protoceras was remotely related to the deer family, and wasprofusely and strangely horned, as though in diminutive mimicry ofthe Dinocerata. There was, in the male, a blunt pair of protuberancesbetween the ears, a pair of basal cores between the eyes, and two largeprominences on the nose. The skull was only eight inches long, andthe animal about the size of a sheep. It was North American (White 256 GEOLOGY River) so far as known, and may be regarded as foreshadowing thedeer (Cervidce). Being a highly specialized form, it had a short career,as specialized forms usually do. In a si
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