Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo05amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
FOSSIL CAHNIVGRA 35 Mesonychid.-e. Tvpe: Mesonyx, skull etc, Wall-case No. 6. These animals had the limbs and feet specialized for swift running, and the feet tipped with fiat hoof-like claws. The teeth are quite peculiar, they have no shearing edges, and the crown is composed of three rather high blunt-topped conical cusps. In
Text Appearing After Image:
FIG. 12. SKULL OF MESONYX Upper Eocene of Utah. After Osborn the upper jaw these are in a triangle, one cusp inside, two out- side; in the lower jaw they are in series, the central one being much the highest. The Mesonychidas are found in all the Eocene strata from the oldest to the youngest, and show a series illustrating the gradual evolution of their peculiar type of tooth. The massive blunt- cusped teeth, generally very much worn, suggest that they were used for crushing bones or other hard food, and that the animal fed upon carrion, like the modem hysena. (See Fig. i.)

Note About Images