1890, p. 182) was a tooth which he regarded as belonging to _Equus
major_ (=_E. complicatus_), but, on the suggestion of Professor Cope, he
described and figured as _Hippotherium princeps_. Later, Lucas (Trans.
cit., vol. IV, p. 49, plate XIX, figs. 12, 13) concluded that Leidy’s
first opinion was correct. The tooth is abnormal in having the column of
the protocone free from the other cusps of the tooth for a short
distance from the grinding-surface. In Bulletin No. 84 (p. 129) of the
U. S. Geological Survey, Leidy referred the Peace Creek horses to his
_Equus fraternus_ (=_E. leidyi_), and it is found that in size and other
respects the type of _Hippotherium princeps_ agrees with this species.
It is retained, however, as _Equus princeps_.
In the U. S. National Museum are 6 teeth collected on Peace Creek,
probably not far from Arcadia, which all apparently belong to E. leidyi.
J. W. Gidley (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. XIV, 1901, p. 121)
stated that there is in the American Museum a tooth from Peace Creek,
much too small to be referred to any species at that time reported from
the United States, but resembling closely _Equus tau_, from Mexico. This
tooth probably belongs to _Equus littoralis_.
Besides the horses of the genus _Equus_, there have been found at or
near Arcadia the 3–toed horse _Hipparion ingenuum_. Whether this is to
be referred with the great majority of the fossils found in this region
to the Aftonian fauna of the first interglacial or to the Nebraskan
stage it is impossible to say.
21. _Vero, St. Lucie County._—Numerous remains of extinct horses have
been found here, but they always consist of single bones or teeth,
sometimes in fine condition, sometimes somewhat water-worn. The remains
occur in both deposits, designated as No. 2 and No. 3, but in the latter
the materials are more fragmentary and not specifically identifiable.
Sellards has figured some of the teeth in his seventh Annual Report
(1915, pp. 110, 111, figs. 40–43). In his eighth report, on page 149, he
has recognized the occurrence here of 3 species, _Equus complicatus_,
_E. leidyi_, and _E. littoralis_.
The writer has examined a large canine tooth found in the stratum of
sand, No. 2. From its size it is referred to _Equus complicatus_. Its
fore-and-aft diameter is 14 mm. Another tooth from the stratum, an upper
right third true molar, finely preserved and retaining some of the
cement, is regarded as belonging to _E. leidyi_. Two lower teeth from
No. 2 are water-worn, but retain their structure. The fore-and-aft
diameter of each is 21 mm. They must have belonged to the little horse
called _E. littoralis_. A fragment of an upper tooth is referred to this
species. It is not water-worn, but has been split from the crown to the
root. A hinder first phalangeal bone found in the canal (No. 1802 of the
Florida Geological Survey) is 96 mm. long. This indicates a horse as
large as our ordinary domestic horses and it probably belonged to _Equus
complicatus_.
22. _Labelle, Lee County._—In 1889 (Trans. Wagner Inst., vol. II, p.
17), Leidy stated that Mr. Joseph Willcox had obtained, from a Pliocene
shell-bed on Caloosahatchee River, some remains of a fossil horse,
consisting of two cervical vertebræ and a part of a lower jaw, which
contained the first and second molar teeth. These teeth are probably
what would be called premolars 2 and 3. Leidy referred the remains to
his _Equus fraternus_ (=_E. leidyi_).
Dall (Bull. No. 84, U. S. Geol. Surv., p. 129) stated that _Equus
fraternus_, _Bison latifrons_, and _Elephas columbi_ were found in
Pliocene beds on the Caloosahatchee, but Sellards (8th Rep. Florida
Geol. Surv., p. 102) corrects this error as to the age.
The writer has received a letter from Mr. Willcox in which he states
that the fragment of lower jaw was found about 2 or 3 miles below
Labelle.
23. _Palm Beach, Palm Beach County._—In 1916 (8th Ann. Rep. Florida
Geol. Surv., p. 105), Sellards wrote that Mr. J. L. Hayes had secured
for the Florida State Geological Survey, from the Palm Beach Canal,
teeth of _Elephas columbi_ and _Equus complicatus_ and a femur of a
species of _Bison_.
ALABAMA.
(Map 17.)
1. _Newbern, Hale County._—In August 1914, there was received at the U.
S. National Museum, from Mr. J. W. White, of Newbern, a lower left first
incisor of a horse. This, with a lower molar of a species of _Bison_,
had been found in a creek. The incisor is somewhat worn, but still
retained a part of the cup. The grinding-face is 14 mm. from side to
side. The species can not be determined.
2. _Bogue Chitto, Dallas County._—In the U. S. National Museum is an
upper right true molar, first or second, of a horse, found at this place
in 1883, by L. C. Johnson, of the U. S. Geological Survey. The tooth is
identified as that of _Equus leidyi_. The enamel is much crenated. At
the same place was found a tooth (a lower molar) of _Elephas imperator_,
and teeth of _Mammut americanum_. It seems to the writer that the
presence of these species indicates that the deposits along Bogue Chitto
belong to the early part of the Pleistocene, about equivalent to the
Aftonian.
MISSISSIPPI.
(Map 17.)
1. _Orizaba, Tippah County._—In the U. S. National Museum (No. 1907) is
a fossil tooth of a horse, a third or fourth right premolar, found
apparently not far from this little town. It is labeled as having been
picked up at Lander’s mill, 9 miles south of Ripley, on Cane Creek, out
of débris of Cretaceous marl, and given to Dr. T. E. Stanton. How it
came to be mingled with the marl is not known. The tooth is only
moderately worn, the height being 75 mm. The length of the
grinding-surface is 28 mm., the width 27 mm. It has the enamel unusually
strongly folded. The tooth is referred provisionally to _Equus leidyi_.
2. _Natchez, Adams County._—Elsewhere will be found an account of the
discovery of fossil vertebrates near Natchez by Dr. M. W. Dickerson (p.
390), among which were found horse-teeth, referred to two species. One
of these horses, represented, as supposed, by 12 teeth, was at first
called by Leidy _Equus americanus_ (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1847,
vol. III, p. 265, plate II); but later _Equus complicatus_ (Proc. cit.,
1858, p. 11). In 1901 (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. XIV, p. 109,
fig. 7), Gidley selected one of the teeth, that of Leidy’s plate II,
figs. 1, 6, referred to above, as the special type of the species _Equus
complicatus_. These Natchez teeth are now in the collection of the
Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.
Some of the teeth from Natchez were described by Leidy in 1860 (Holmes’s
Post-Pliocene Fossils of South Carolina, pp. 100–105, plate XV, figs.
11–15, plate XVI, figs. 24–26, 30, 31) as _Equus complicatus_. Others
(pp. 100105, plate XV, figs. 17, 18, plate XVI, fig. 27) were referred
to a hitherto unrecognized species _Equus fraternus_.
TENNESSEE.
(Map 17. Figure 23.)
1. _Rogersville, Hawkins County._—In the U. S. National Museum (No. 520)
is a single horse-tooth found many years ago in a crevice in a marble
quarry at this place. It is referred by the writer to _Equus leidyi_
(Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. LVIII, p. 84). With it were sent a canine
tooth and a few bones of a peccary, described as _Mylohyus setiger_ (p.
394).
2. _Whitesburg, Hamblen County._—In 1885 Mr. Ira Sayles collected at
this place a lot of bones and teeth of vertebrates, described by the
present writer (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. LVIII, p. 87). Among them is
an upper right second premolar of a horse, identified as _Equus leidyi_.
A list of the species will be found on page 395. _E. littoralis_ also is
present.
3. _Lookout Mountain, Hamilton County._—In the American Museum of
Natural History, New York, is an upper second molar tooth brought from
Lookout Mountain (Gidley, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. XIV, p.
121). Under what conditions this tooth was found have not been recorded.
It belongs probably to the species _Equus littoralis_.
4. _Nashville, Davidson County._—From William Edward Myer, of Nashville,
Tennessee, the writer received, June 26, 1920, some fossils collected
near Nashville, about 300 yards upstream from Lock A, in Cumberland
River, at a depth of nearly 30 feet beneath a bank of gravel. Below this
gravel is a bed of sand apparently 2 or 3 feet thick and this is
underlain by another bed of gravel apparently about 2 feet thick. This
itself lies on bed-rock at about the level of low water in the river. In
the lower gravel were found a lower molar of _Equus leidyi_, a part of a
left femur of a large horse, and an antler of a small undetermined and
probably undescribed deer. In the layer of sand were discovered a heel
bone of a camel, a part of a tooth of a young mastodon, and some
fragments of turtle bones. The equine tooth belongs to the right side.
It has a height of about 80 mm., a length of 28 mm. on the
grinding-surface, and a width of 16 mm. It is black, and like the others
thoroughly fossilized.
The fragment of femur appears to have belonged to a horse perhaps larger
than _Equus leidyi_. It begins at the lower border of the third
trochanter and descends to the lower part of the deep fossa for the
plantaris muscle. Immediately above the fossa the side-to-side diameter
of the bone is 50 mm., the fore-and-aft 60 mm. In a horse of medium size
these diameters are respectively 45 mm. and 53 mm.
Later there was discovered at the same locality the upper two-thirds of
the right metatarsal. The fragment is 230 mm. long. The upper articular
end is somewhat injured; 75 mm. below the upper end the fore-and-aft
diameter is 45 mm., the side-to-side diameter 38 mm. The latter diameter
was somewhat greater, as the bone appears to be slightly crushed. The
specimen is referred to _Equus complicatus_. Probably the femur
mentioned above belonged to this species.
KENTUCKY.
(Map 17.)
1. _Bigbone Lick, Boone County._—In their report published in 1831
(Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XX, p. 371), Cooper, Smith, and Dekay reported
they found in the collection from this place large teeth and bones of a
horse. They regarded these as being of equal antiquity with the extinct
animals associated with them. In 1847 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila.,
vol. III, p. 263, 264) Leidy stated that there were in the Academy 10
permanent molars of a horse from Bigbone Lick. These he referred to
_Equus curvidens_. In 1853 (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. VII, p.
263) he wrote that several teeth supposed to have come from this
locality had possibly been obtained elsewhere.
In 1851 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., p. 140), he spoke of foot-bones
of the horse, a calcaneum and first phalanx, from the same place. In
1860 (Holmes’s “Post-Pliocene Fossils of South Carolina,” p. 104), Leidy
mentioned several horse-bones from Bigbone Lick presented to the
American Philosophical Society by President Jefferson. In Rochester
University are 2 hoof phalanges labeled from Bigbone Lick. Osborn (“Age
of Mammals,” p. 478) puts down _Equus_ from Bigbone Lick as being
doubtful. There appears to be no good reason for this.
The remains of horses from this locality appear all to belong to _Equus
complicatus_.
2. _Monday’s Landing, Mercer County._—From Professor Arthur M. Miller,
of the University of Kentucky, the writer has received for examination a
much-worn upper left molar or premolar of a horse found at the place
named. It was met with in a fissure filled with crystallized calcite,
near the bank of Kentucky River. The vein of calcite was about 6 feet
wide. Similar veins at this locality have been worked down to a depth of
200 or 300 feet. A part of a lower jaw of a deer-like animal was found
in one of these veins. The horse-tooth is badly worn, but it appears to
have belonged to a small species, the fore-and-aft length of the crown
being only 19 mm. The enamel of the anterior lake is considerably
complicated. It is impossible, from the lack of other fossil remains, to
determine the geological age of this horse.
FINDS OF PLEISTOCENE TAPIRIDÆ IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA.
PENNSYLVANIA.
(Map 19.)
1. _Port Kennedy, Montgomery County._—In 1871, Wheatley announced (Amer.
Jour. Sci., ser. 3, vol. I, p. 384) that he had discovered in the Port
Kennedy bone cave 2 species of tapirs (_Tapirus americanus_ and _T.
haysii_). In 1899 (Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., vol. II, p. 253), Cope
stated that remains of 35 or more tapirs had been discovered in this
cave. He referred all to _T. haysii_. These tapirs will be mentioned
again on page 312, where the geological relations of the cave and its
contents are considered.
2. _Frankstown, Blair County._—In 1908, Dr. W. J. Holland reported (Ann.
Carnegie Mus., vol. IV, p. 231) found in a bone cave at Frankstown the
third and fourth lower premolars of a tapir about the size of _Tapir
americanus_, which name is a synonym of _T. terrestris_. This will be
mentioned in the discussion of the geology of the region on page 321.
OHIO.
(Maps 19, 36.)
1. _New Salisbury?, Columbiana County._—Somewhere in the region probably
of the town named was found, about 1850, a jaw of a tapir, apparently
mentioned first by Louis Agassiz (Proc. Amer. Assoc. Adv. Sci., vol. V,
1851, p. 179), who referred to it as a jaw of a pachyderm. Leidy, in
1860 (Holmes’s “Post-Pliocene Fossils of South Carolina,” p. 107),
reported that he had studied a much-mutilated fragment of the lower jaw
of the smaller variety of the extinct tapir, which had belonged to
Professor J. Brainerd, of Cleveland. It had been found in the valley of
Yellow Creek, in Columbiana County, in an erosion of the coal series. It
was covered with 30 feet of clay, at a height of 186 feet above
low-water in Ohio River. Charles Whittlesey, in 1866 (Smithson. Contrib.
Knowl., vol. XV, art. 3, p. 16), stated that this specimen was taken
from “valley drift,” of Yellow Creek, in Columbiana County, by Mr. E.
White, C. E., in a cut of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Inasmuch as Yellow
Creek itself does not enter the county named, reference must be to what
is called, on the topographical sheet of the U. S. Geological Survey,
North Fork of Yellow Creek. The railroad follows this creek for many
miles in the county. The town of New Salisbury is taken as being
probably not far from the locality. It is not known what became of this
specimen, nor is it possible to say to which species it belonged. It is
to be referred probably to the Sangamon stage.
INDIANA.
(Map 19.)
1. _Evansville, Vanderburg County._—Tapir remains have been found at
only one place in Indiana, viz, in the banks of the Ohio River at the
mouth of Pigeon Creek, a short distance below Evansville. A single lower
hinder molar formed part of a collection made by Mr. Francis A. Lincke
and described by Leidy (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1854, p. 199).
This tooth was figured by Leidy in 1860 (Holmes’s “Post-Pliocene Fossils
of South Carolina,” p. 107, plate XVII, figs. 9, 10) under the name
_Tapirus haysii_. Associated with the tooth were remains of _Megalonyx
jeffersonii_, a bison of probably an extinct species, the Virginia deer,
the horse known as _Equus complicatus_, and the large extinct wolf
_Ænocyon dirus_.
On page 32 is discussed the probable age of the bone-bed which contained
the animals named above. It is concluded that the age is possibly the
Aftonian, but more probably the Sangamon. This species of tapir has been
found at Bigbone Lick, Kentucky, between Louisville and Cincinnati, in
deposits containing _Equus complicatus_, 2 extinct species of _Bison_,
deer, etc. The deposits lie on Illinoian drift and are in part, at
least, of Sangamon age.
MARYLAND.
(Map 19.)
1. _Corriganville, Allegany County._—In a crevice in limestone rock, at
a point about 3 miles west of north of Cumberland, Mr. J. W. Gidley
found a tooth of a tapir. The tooth has never been specifically
identified. A list of the associated species, as far as determined, will
be given on page 350.
VIRGINIA.
(Map 19.)
1. _Ivanhoe, Wythe County._—In 1869 (Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., vol. XI,
p. 176), Cope announced the discovery of several lower molars of a tapir
in what he regarded as cave breccia, along New River. These teeth he
found to be somewhat larger than those of _T. terrestris_, the Central
and South American species, and he referred them to _Tapirus haysii_. A
list of the species found here is given on page 353.
SOUTH CAROLINA.
(Map 19.)
1. _Charleston, Charleston County._—In 1860 (Holmes’s “Post-Pliocene
Fossils of South Carolina,” p. 106, plate XVII, figs. 2, 3), Leidy
described briefly and figured 2 injured upper cheek-teeth of a tapir
found in the Pleistocene of Ashley River, and referred by him to
_Tapirus americanus fossilis_, on the supposition that they were not
different from those of the existing South American tapir, but larger.
The larger of the two teeth (fig. 2) appears to have had a fore-and-aft
diameter of about 29 mm. It seems, therefore, to belong to Leidy’s
species _Tapirus haysii_. Under the same name, _T. americanus fossilis_,
Leidy illustrated (figs. 11, 12) a lower molar found on Ashley River.
This appears to be too small to have belonged to _T. haysii_. Instead,
however, of referring it to _T. americanus_ (=_T. terrestris_) it may
possibly be found to belong to _T. veroensis_ Sellards, the lower molars
of which are not certainly known. The length of the tooth figured by
Leidy is that of a second molar of _T. terrestris_, but the width is
greater than in the latter.
In the Charleston Museum is a part of a left ramus of the lower jaw of a
tapir likewise referred to _T. veroensis_ Sellards. This fragment
contains all 3 of the true molars. The following measurements were
secured:
_Measurements, in millimeters, of lower molars of tapirs in the
Charleston Museum._
┌───────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬───────────────┐
│ │ Tapirus │ │
│ │ veroensis? │Tapirus haysii.│
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┬───────┼───────┬───────┤
│ │Length.│Width. │Length.│Width. │
├───────────────────────────────┼───────┼───────┼───────┼───────┤
│Length of all 3 molars combined│66 │ │79 │ │
│First molar │20 │17 │25 │28 │
│Second molar │23 │18.5 │26 │31.5 │
│Third molar │24 │18 │28 │32 │
└───────────────────────────────┴───────┴───────┴───────┴───────┘
In the collection of Charles C. Pinckney, at Lambs, South Carolina, are
2 tapir teeth, one of which is an upper molar, not yet come into use,
apparently the last tooth of the right side. The length of the crown is
25.5 mm., the width in front 27.5 mm., behind about 23 mm. In front is a
pretty strong cingulum, but there is none behind. This tooth is referred
to _Tapirus haysii_.
In the Scanlan collection from Charleston, now the property of Yale
University, are various specimens of tapirs. An upper left second molar
is slightly worn. The length is 24 mm., the width 30 mm. The outer
border of the crown makes a right angle with the anterior border; in _T.
terrestris_ the outer anterior corner is considerably less than a right
angle. In the latter the hinder faces of the protocone and of the
hypocone are concave; in the tooth here described both hinder faces are
swollen, and the crests appear more depressed than in _T. terrestris_.
It is regarded as belonging to _T. haysii_.
In the Scanlan collection are 3 lower molars which the writer refers to
_T. haysii_. The following are the measurements:
_Measurements, in millimeters, of lower molars of tapirs in the
Scanlan collection._
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬───────┬───────┐
│ │Length.│Width. │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼───────┼───────┤
│Left third? molar, with the rear cingulum broken off│28± │22.5 │
│Left second molar │25.5 │21 │
│Right second molar │27 │21 │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴───────┴───────┘
In the Scanlan collection is a fragment of the left maxilla with 4
teeth, the last premolar and the 3 molars. The specimen resembles figure
1 of Leidy’s plate XVII of Holmes’s “Post-Pliocene Fossils of South
Carolina.” The teeth of the Scanlan specimens are, however, less worn.
The hinder molar had not yet come through the gum. The specimen is
referred to _T. terrestris_. The following are the measurements:
_Measurements, in millimeters, of upper teeth of Tapirus terrestris._
┌─────────────┬───────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────┐
│ Tooth. │ Tapir from Charleston. │ T. terrestris, U. S. Nat. │
│ │ │ Mus. No. 238110 │
├─────────────┼─────────────┬─────────────┼─────────────┬─────────────┤
│ │ Length. │ Width. │ Length. │ Width. │
├─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤
│ Pm^1 │19 │24.5 │19 │25 │
│ M^1 │20 │25.5 │21 │23 │
│ M^2 │22.5 │28 │23.5 │27 │
│ M^3 │24.5 │27.5 │25.5 │26 │
└─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘
The molar teeth have an acute angle between the anterior and the outer
borders, and the front and the hinder faces of the protocone and the
hypocone are not so swollen as in the tooth referred to _T. haysii_. In
apparently every respect the teeth of the fossil agree with the teeth of
_Tapirus terrestris_ from Brazil. It is to be hoped that before long a
good skull of the Pleistocene tapir whose teeth so closely resemble
those of _T. terrestris_ will be discovered. If the two prove to be the
same species it will seem that only the descendants of those which
migrated to North America perished during the Glacial period.
There is another tooth, an upper left second molar, of _T. terrestris_
in the Scanlan collection; also the rear half of an upper molar labeled
as coming from Bull River. Other fragments of teeth are recorded as
coming from Ashley River.
In the Charleston Museum (No. 13495) is a part of the left ramus of the
lower jaw with the 3 molars. On measurement it is found that the teeth
and jaw agree closely with those of _T. terrestris_.
GEORGIA.
(Map 19.)
1. _Brunswick, Glynn County._—In Bulletin No. 26 of the Geological
Survey of Georgia, Mr. J. W. Gidley published a list of species of
vertebrate fossils which belong to the State collection at Atlanta,
secured during some dredging operations at Brunswick. This list, with
modifications, is incorporated in that presented on page 370. Among the
fossils examined by Gidley, a tooth was recognized as that of _Tapirus
haysii_.
FLORIDA.
(Map 19.)
1. _Neals, Alachua County._—Through the kindness of Dr. E. H. Sellards,
State geologist of Florida, the writer has been permitted to examine
various teeth (No. 1186, Florida Geological Survey) taken from the T. A.
Thompson phosphate mines at Neals. Among these is a lower left milk
molar of a tapir. The length of the crown is 21 mm., the width at the
front lobe 14 mm., at the hinder lobe 12.5 mm. The buttresses are well
developed. The tooth may be provisionally referred to _Tapirus
terrestris_, yet living in Brazil. Although this tooth was found in
phosphate materials, it seemed to Dr. Sellards more probable that it was
an intrusion from Pleistocene deposits. The present writer refers the
Alachua clays to the Nebraskan stage of the Pleistocene. Sellards has
referred to this tooth in his Eighth Annual Report, 1916, p. 94.
2. _Archer, Alachua County._—In 1884 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila.,
1884, p. 119), Leidy briefly described a tooth of a tapir found by Dr.
J. C. Neal, of Archer, Florida. This is now in the U. S. National
Museum, No. 3329. The tooth is the third premolar of the left side,
implanted in a fragment of maxilla. The crown is 23 mm. long and 27 mm.
wide. Leidy stated that it differed neither in form nor size from the
corresponding tooth of the living _Tapirus americanus_ (_T.
terrestris_); but in a specimen of this the corresponding tooth is only
18.5 mm. long and 25 mm. wide. The fossil agrees in size with the same
tooth of _T. haysii_ from the Port Kennedy Cave in Pennsylvania (Hay,
Geol. Surv. Indiana, vol. XXIII, p. 593). With this tooth had been found
teeth of a young mastodon, remains of several individuals of a species
of rhinoceros, some foot-bones of a llama, a calcaneum which Leidy
thought possibly belonged to the extinct _Cervus americanus_ (_Cervalces
scotti_), and vertebral centra of a small crocodile. The cervalces was
afterwards dropped from the lists. These remains had been found in a bed
of clay, occupying a ridge in a pine forest. The deposits are now known
as the Alachua clays, and they, as well as the contained fossils, will
be discussed on page 375. The tapir remains are not included in Leidy’s
list given in Bulletin 84 of the U. S. Geological Survey.