Eocene Tertiary, France.]
The order of the Bats (_Cheiroptera_) is represented in Eocene
strata of the Paris basin (Gypseous series of Montmartre) by
the _Vespertilio Parisiensis_ (fig. 233), an insect-eating Bat
very similar to some of the existing European forms. Lastly, the
Eocene deposits have yielded more or less satisfactory evidence
of the existence in Europe at this period of examples of the
orders of the Gnawing Mammals (_Rodentia_), the Insect-eating
Mammals (_Insectivora_), and the Monkeys (_Quadrumana_).[24]
[Footnote 24: A short list of the more important works relating to
the Eocene rocks and fossils will be given after all the Tertiary
deposits have been treated of.]
CHAPTER XIX.
THE MIOCENE PERIOD.
The Miocene rocks comprise those Tertiary deposits which contain
less than about 35 per cent of existing species of shells
(_Mollusca_), and more than 5 per cent--or those deposits in
which the proportion of living shells is less than of extinct
species. They are divisible into a _Lower Miocene_ (_Oligocene_)
and an _Upper Miocene_ series.
In _Britain_, the Miocene rocks are very poorly developed, one
of their leading developments being at Bovey Tracy in Devonshire,
where there occur sands, clays, and beds of lignite or imperfect
coal. These strata contain numerous plants, amongst which are
Vines, Figs, the Cinnamon-tree, Palms, and many Conifers, especially
those belonging to the genus Sequoia (the "Red-Foods").
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