| Show TIlE THE ORIGIN OF THE HORSE The Remote Forefather of This Useful Animal Was a i Vastly Different Creature DY SOPHIE n D WyomIng omill Is a wonderland ot of tue pall nIt rich In fossil remains A few tew years ears ago there was found In the fossil o beds the remains or of a creature scientists claIm Is the tho original equine Its front foot felt show four our distinct toes the thu hInd foot three I INow Now a little plaster animal rentIng the tho probable appearance or of the as 18 It I is rolled called stands In the tho Now New York mu museum oum In the tho same sarno alcove with the cast of n it draft dmn horse The Tho entire little lIUla bod body and tiny head hend do 10 not equal In InI I hulk lie tho big head hend or of the great Per charon ThIs little horse or of Ito tho masur twelve Inches nt at the der As PUSI passed O on It IL Increased cd i to fourteen Inches C CI I L Incalculable ages and his do de del l of oC the Ito miocene stood k eighteen Incites high and Iad three thre tOOf on each foot oot footAges Ages later ht he row grew taller still and tI I hI his cut cot grew harder r 11 bayIng yet et three toes At this perIod Ioe ho measured d nl a most moat ton ten nt at the withers rn and hi lila 5 hood und nil neck had grown long on TIters Thero wore now several or his rum fain rumI I 11 Ib and one or of them the J must have looked much like a Vir 4 t 4 j I The Tho time line on Whore the Uie four our ourI I it i toed hAd round found the lie foliage l und and lt food within easy reach rench of oC J t l 1 his 1118 tiny hod and he had spread I lug IllS re feet t needed to support him ott the tho thoi i I 1 soft oCt soil solI or of tropical forests his do dc I or of the lie next million years cars r had to groat l physIcal h changes to adapt them item to their changed i surroundIngs 1 Ago ASo b by a ago o tho spon lowlands were elevated higher and higher sea level and as the tho alti tudo Increased d there was 1 less moisture and with dryer cooler 0 alt thu tho rank Core t vegetation grad gave ae place to grasses Js As trees grew less lea and the grass 4 increased the or of the chan ed also alao The Tho fo feet t grew hard harder r to meet th the thep p firmer soil oil the legs grew longer the heels hl higher h r to allow hIm to swIne Over greater distances and the neck extended to low lIow him to browse on the tho grasses at hi his fN feeL The Thc teeth also changed to suit Bult the nt new foot I 11 lie had a wide noble e range on oil the tho luxuriant grasses before tin I leo lea ago AGe came to change everything Ills trait Is found from bay bayon on the tho north to P on the south It Is n a fur Cr cry from rom tho Ie little o four Cour toed dOglike creature or of lie tho period to th the horse the th ass and tile the zebra of today the only 18 that I walk on ono one too Lol Sp Species by sr cINi th they and extinct as asa I a 11 class leaving to their the task or of to meet I th the needs or of a changing earth It 1 h Is belIeved are nrc th the original ancestors o of all th the extinct members of oC the hor c family In the worM world but thIs be deposits In central Asia AsI shall lImB have hae been thoroughly explored |
