PALAOTHE.RIITM, Cuv.—This extinct genus of quad ruped was restored (fig. 98) by Cuvier through a series of admirably instructive steps, ultimately verified by a complete series of fossils, obtained chiefly from the upper eocene ous formation at Montmartre and other parts of France. The Restoration of the Polceotheriurn (Eocene Gyps).
molar teeth of Pakeotherium (fig. 99) approach nearer to those of the rhinoceros ; but in the number, kind, and general ar rangement the entire dentition resembles that of Plioloph.us. The skull affords indications that the Palwothere possessed a short proboscis. It had three toes on each foot, each termi nated by a hoof ; the middle one being the largest. The femur had a third trochanter, and the dorso-lumbar vertebrae were 21 in number. Several species of Pakeotherium have been determined, ranging from the size of a sheep (P. curtum) to that of a horse (P.magnum). Fig. 99 gives the grinding surface of an upper molar of this species from the upper eocene of the Bembridge beds, Isle of Wight. The crown is
divided into an anterior (b, (I) and posterior (a, c) part by an oblique fissure (e), continued from near the middle of the inner surface of the crown obliquely across two-thirds of the tooth. Each division is subdivided partially into an outer (4) and an inner (cd) lobes ; the anterior division, by the terminal expansion (i) of the fissure (e), the posterior one by the fissure (g). The lobes (c and d) are bordered near their base by a ridge. This is the type of grinding surface, on which are superinduced the modifications of that surface in the upper molars of the rhinoceros and horse. The dental formula of Pcdceotherium is i 1E-1, p m ---- 4 4 . The exceed in length the other teeth, and there are consequently vacancies in the dental series for the lodgment of the crowns of the canines when the mouth is shut.