The Anoplotherium (from ανοπλος, defenceless, θηριον, animal), had the posterior molar teeth analogous to those of the Rhinoceros, the feet terminating in two great toes, forming an equally divided hoof, like that of the Ox and other Ruminants, and the tarsus of the toes nearly like those of the Camel. It was about the size of the Ass; its head was light; but what would distinguish it most must have been an enormous tail of at least three feet in length, and very thick at its junction with the body. This tail evidently served it as a rudder and propeller when swimming in the lakes or rivers, which it frequented, not to seize fish (for it was strictly herbivorous), but in search of roots and stems of succulent aquatic plants. “Judging from its habits of swimming and diving,” says Cuvier, “the Anoplotherium would have the hair smooth, like the otter; perhaps its skin was even half naked. It is not likely either that it had long ears, which would be inconvenient in its aquatic kind of life; and I am inclined to think that, in this respect, it resembled the Hippopotamus and other quadrupeds which frequent the water much.” To this description Cuvier had nothing more to add. His memoir upon the pachydermatous fossils of Montmartre is accompanied by a design in outline of Anoplotherium commune, which has been closely followed in [Fig. 154].
There were species of Anoplotherium of very small size. A. leporinum (or the Hare-Anoplotherium), whose feet are evidently adapted for speed; A. minimum and A. obliquum were of still smaller dimensions; the last, especially, scarcely exceeded the size of a rat. Like the Water-rats, this species inhabited the banks of brooks and small rivers.
Fig. 155.—Xiphodon gracile.
The Xiphodon was about three feet in height at the withers, and generally about the size of the Chamois, but lighter in form, and with a smaller head. In proportion as the appearance of the Anoplotherium commune was heavy and sluggish, so was that of Xiphodon gracile graceful and active; light and agile as the Gazelle or the Goat, it would rapidly run round the marshes and ponds, depasturing on the aromatic herbs of the dry lands, or browsing on the sprouts of the young shrubs. “Its course,” says Cuvier, in the memoir already quoted, “was not embarrassed by a long tail; but, like all active herbivorous animals, it was probably timid, and with large and very mobile ears, like those of the stag, announcing the slightest approach of danger. Neither is there any doubt that its body was covered with short smooth hair; and consequently we only require to know its colour in order to paint it as it formerly existed in this country, where it has been dug up after so many ages.” [Fig. 155] is a reproduction from the design in outline with which Cuvier accompanied the description of this animal, which he classes with the Anoplotherium, and which has received in our days the name of Xiphodon gracile.
The gypsum-quarries of the environs of Paris include, moreover, the remains of other Pachyderms: the Chæropotamus, or River-hog (from χοιρος ποταμος), which has some analogy with the living Pecari, though much larger; the Adapis, which reminds us, in its form, of the Hedgehog, of which, however, it was three times the size. It seems to have been a link between the Pachyderms and the Insectivorous Carnivora. The Lophiodon, the size of which varied with the species, from that of the Rabbit to that of the Rhinoceros, was still more closely allied to the Tapir than to the Anoplotherium; it is found in the lower beds of the gypseous formation, that is to say in the “Calcaire Grossier.”
A Parisian geologist, M. Desnoyers, librarian of the Museum of Natural History there, has discovered in the gypseous beds of the valley of Montmorency, and elsewhere in the neighbourhood of Paris, as at Pantin, Clichy, and Dammartin, the imprints of the footsteps of some Mammals, of which there seems to be some question, especially with regard to the Anoplotherium and Palæotherium. Footprints of Turtles, Birds, and even of Carnivora, sometimes accompany these curious traces, which have a sort of almond-shape more or less lobed, according to the divisions of the hoof of the animal, and which recall to mind completely, in their mode of production and preservation, those imprints of the steps of the Labyrinthodon which have been mentioned as occurring in rocks of the Triassic period. This discovery is interesting, as it furnishes a means of comparison between the imprints and the animals which have produced them. It brings into view, as it were, the material traces left in their walks upon the soil by animals now annihilated, but who once occupied the mysterious sites of an earlier world. (See [Fig. 1], p. 12.)
It is interesting to picture in imagination the vast pasturages of the Tertiary period swarming with Herbivora of all sizes. The country now surrounding the city of Paris belongs to the period in question, and not far from its gates, the woods and plains were crowded with “game” of which the Parisian sportsman little dreams, but which would nevertheless singularly animate the earth at this distant epoch. The absence of great Carnivora explains the rapid increase of the agile and graceful denizens of the wood, whose race seems to have been so multiplied then, but which was ultimately annihilated by the ferocious beasts of prey which afterwards made their appearance.
The same novelty, riches, and variety which distinguished the Mammals of the Tertiary period extended to other classes of animals. The class of Birds, of which we can only name the most remarkable, was represented by the curious fossil known as the “Bird of Montmartre.” The bones of other birds have been obtained from Hordwell, as well as the remains of quadrupeds. Among the latter the Hyænodon, supposed to be the oldest known example of a true carnivorous animal in the series of British fossils, and the fossil Bat known as the Vespertilio Parisiensis. Among Reptiles the Crocodile, which bears the name of Isle of Wight Alligator, Crocodilus Toliapicus. Among the Turtles the Trionyx, of which there is a fine specimen in the Museum of Natural History in Paris ([Fig. 156]).