In the other
line, the Artiodactyla (the "even-toed" or cloven-hoofed
Ungulates), the main axis or stress passes between the third and
fourth toes, and the group branches into our deer, oxen, sheep,
pigs, camels, giraffes, and hippopotamuses. The elephant has
developed along a separate and very distinctive line, as we shall
see, and the hyrax is a primitive survivor of the ancestral
group.
Thus the evolutionist is able to trace a very natural order in
the immense variety of our Ungulates. He can follow them in
theory as they slowly evolve from their primitive Eocene ancestor
according to their various habits and environments; he has a very
rich collection of fossil remains illustrating the stages of
their development; and in the hyrax (or "coney") he has one more
of those living fossils, or primitive survivors, which still
fairly preserve the ancestral form. The hyrax has four toes on
the front foot and three on the hind foot, and the feet are flat.
Its front teeth resemble those of a rodent, and its molars those
of the rhinoceros. In many respects it is a most primitive and
generalised little animal, preserving the ancestral form more or
less faithfully since Tertiary days in the shelter of the African
Continent.
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