One
of these is the large _Macrotherium giganteum_ of the Upper Miocene
of Gers in Southern France, which appears to hare been in many
respects allied to the existing Scaly Ant-eaters or Pangolins,
at the same time that the disproportionately long fore-limbs would
indicate that it possessed the climbing habits of the Sloths.
The other is the still more gigantic _Ancylotherium Pentelici_
of the Upper Miocene of Pikerme, which seems to have been as
large as, or larger than, the Rhinoceros, and which must have
been terrestrial in its habits. This conclusion is further borne
out by the comparative equality of length which subsists between
the fore and hind limbs, and is not affected by the curvature and
crookedness of the claws, this latter feature being well marked
in such existing terrestrial Edentates as the Great Ant-eater.
[Illustration: Fig. 242.--Front portion of the skeleton of _Andrias
Scheuchzeri_, a Giant Salamander from the Miocene Tertiary of
Oeningen, in Switzerland. Reduced in size.]
The aquatic _Sirenians_ and _Cetaceans_ are represented in Miocene
times by various forms of no special importance. Amongst the
former, the previously existing genus _Halitherium_ continued to
survive, and amongst the latter we meet with remains of Dolphins
and of Whales of the "Zeuglodont" family. We may also note here
the first appearance of true "Whalebone Whales," two species
of which, resembling the living "Right Whale" of Arctic seas,
and belonging to the same genus (_Baloena_), have been detected
in the Miocene beds of North America.
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