Page:Evolution of Life (Henry Cadwalader Chapman, 1873).djvu/105

Rh Lemur, is a perfect link between the Half-Apes and Bats, the Cheiromys foreshadows the order of gnawers, resembling in appearance, as well as in the structure of the teeth, the gnawers (Rat, Squirrel) more than the Half-Monkeys. The short-footed Lemurs (Makis and Loris) are more like the true Monkeys, while the long-footed Tarsius is allied to the Insect-eaters (Cladobates, Hedgehog). A century ago the half-apes, gnawers, bats, and apes, with man, were joined together by Linnaeus, and called Primates; and modern research seems but to have confirmed his generalization. Strange as it may at first appear, the Elephant is more nearly allied to the gnawers (Rodentia) in its skeleton, as well as in many other respects, than to any other order of the Mammalia. One can hardly conceive of a mouse and an elephant having anything in common; but it must be remembered that size has nothing to do with community of structure, and that there are Rodents, like the Capybara, as large as a dog. The position of the little Hyrax in the animal kingdom has been a constant subject for discussion since the days of Cuvier. According to some authorities, it stands near the Elephant and Rodentia, while others place it near the Tapir, among the odd-toes. I follow Haeckel in placing it near the Elephant. The true apes have descended from the half-apes, but as, zoologically, man and the true apes are not to be separated, we reserve for a separate chapter the consideration of the Simise, the highest order of the Mammalia. The half-apes are probably the posterity of extinct Marsupials allied to the opossums. The Carnivora or meat-eaters include the lion (Fig. 81), dog, cat, bear, walrus, seal, as well as other animals. They have so many characters in common, and differ so much from all other orders, that we regard them as a distinct stem, descending from Marsupials like the Thylacinus or dog-headed opossum. The transition from the seals to the whales (Cetacea) is made through the extinct Zeuglodon, which combines