having been the largest of terrestrial Mammalia;[1] and the second, the Megatherium, presenting greater deviations from ordinary animal forms, than occur in any other species, either of recent or of fossil quadrupeds.
It has been already stated; in our account of the Mammalia of the Miocene period of the tertiary series, that the most abundant remains of the Dinotherium are found at Epplesheim, in the province of Hesse Darmstadt, and are described, in a work now in process of publication, by Professor Kaup. Fragments of the same genus are mentioned by Cuvier, as occurring in several parts of France, and in Bavaria and Austria.
The form of the molar teeth of the Dinotherium (Pl. 2, C. Fig. 3), so nearly resembles that of the Tapirs, that Cuvier at first referred them to a gigantic species of this genus. Professor Kaup has since placed this animal in the new genus Dinotherium, holding an intermediate place between the Tapir and the Mastodon, and supplying another important extinct link in the great family of Pachydermata. The largest species of this genus, D. Giganteum, is calculated, both by Cuvier and Kaup, to have attained the extraordinary length of eighteen feet. The most remarkable bone of the body yet found is the shoulder-blade, the form of which more nearly resembles that of a Mole than of any other animal, and seems to indicate a peculiar adaptation of the fore, leg to the purposes of digging, an indication which is corroborated by the remarkable structure of the lower jaw.
The lower jaws of two species of Dinotherium, figured in Plate 2. C. Figs. 1. 2. exhibit peculiarities in the disposition
- ↑ The Author has recently been informed by Professor Kaup, of Darmstadt, that an entire head of this animal has been discovered at Epplesheim, measuring more than a yard in length and as much in breadth, and that he is preparing a description and figures of this head for immediate publication.
