Horns, Tusks, and Flippers: The Evolution of Hoofed Mammals

327 Pages·2003·94.99 MB·English

by  Donald R. Prothero

Horns, Tusks, and Flippers

HORNS, TUSKS, AND FLIPPERS:
THE EVOLUTION OF
HOOFED MAMMALS
Donald R. Prothero
Occidental College
Los Angeles, California
and
Robert M. Schoch
Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore and London
© 2002 The Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2002
Printed in the United States ofAmerica on acid-free paper.
9876543 2
The Johns HopkinsUniversity Press
2715 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363
www.press.jhu.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Prothero, Donald R.
Horns, tusks, and flippers: the evolution of hoofed mammals / Donald R. Prothero
and.Robert M. Schoch.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-8018-7135-2 (alk. paper)
1. Ungulates-Evolution. 2. Ungulates, Fossil. 3. Elephants-Evolution.
4. Cetacea-Evolution. I. Schoch, Robert M. II. Title.
QL737.U4 P76 2002
599.6138-dc21 2002069394
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Dedicated to our wives and sons
Teresa LeVelIe and Erik Prothero
Cynthia, Nicholas and Edward Schoch
and to thefuture ofthe animals described herein

Contents
PrefaceandAcknowledgments
Xl
1. Introduction 1
American savanna . 1
Names anddates 2
Hoofed mammals 6
Uintabeasts and the Cope-Marsh wars 9
The lost world 13
2. Clovenhooves 19
The kingdom ofcloven hooves . 19
Gut reactions 19
"Bunny deer" 23
Phosphate andfossils 25
Pseudopigs 26
Sui generis . 27
"Nebraska man" andjavelinas 35
The "riverhorse" 39
3.Tylopods 45
Camels withouthumps 45
Ships ofthe desert 53
"Mountain tooth" 56
4. Where the deerand the antelope play 61
GraveyardoftheAmazons 61
Horns and antlers 63
"Mousedeer" 65
The "forestdonkey" .. 66
The camelopard 67
Deerperfume 72
AII-American-but notan antelope 74
Deerto us all 76
Abbe David and his deer 84
5. Hollowhorns 87
Aworldofbovids .. 87
Bovines 90
Aurochs and wisent 92
Where the buffalo roam 94
Cattlecall 97
Diving bucks 99
"Brighteyes" 100
Mountain monarchs 107
viii
6.Awhale's tale 115
Dr. Koch's "seaserpent" 115
Walking whales? ~................................................................................................ 117
Andrews' giant "bear" 118
The pedigree ofLeviathan 120
LifeofaLeviathan 121
"So long, and thanks for all the fish" 124
Moby Dick, Flipper, and theirkin 127
Filter-feeding monsters 133
Save the whales! 135
7. OutofAfrica 141
The tethytheres 141
Mermaids 143
The "feeblefolk" 149
8.The originofJumbo 157
Giants in the earth 157
Early tuskers 159
The "GreatMissoul-ium" 163
Shovel-tuskers and gomphotheres 166
Elephantgrinders 169
Woolly wanderers 170
The mystery ofthe missing mammoths 176
9. Kingdom ofivory 179
Beholdthe behemoth 179
Behemothbiology..... 182
The sisterhood 185
Godand slave 190
Bloodand ivory 191
10.Ahorse ofa differentcolor(andshape) 197
The originofperissodactyIs 197
The "hyrax beast" 198
Cuvier's "ancientbeast" ~......................................................................................... 203
Halfway horses 204
Browsing anchitheres 205
Grazing horses 207
The hipparion controversy . 209
11. Equus 213
One-toed horses 213
Stripes do not azebra make 216
Wild asses 221
Wild and domesticated horses 223
12.Thunderbeasts 229
The legendoftheThunderBeasts 229
Bone rush 230
Osborn,Asia, and orthogenesis 233
The biology ofbrontotheres 235