' I
with care ; liut the following list may give some idea of their
nature: 1st, a tolerably perfect head of a megatherium, and
a fragment and teeth of two others ; 2d, an animal of the
order Edentata, as large as a pony, and with great scratching
claws; 3d and 4th, two great Edentata related to the
megatherium, and both fully as large as an ox or horse ; 5th,
another equally large animal, closely allied or perhaps identical
with the Toxodon (hereafter to be described), which
had very flat grinding teeth, somewhat resembling those
of a rodent ; 6th, a large piece of the tesselated covering like
that of the armadillo, but of gigantic size ; 7th, a tusk which
in its prismatic form, and in the disposition of the enamel,
closely resembles that of the African boar ; it is probable
that it belonged to the same animal with the singular flat
grinders. Lastly, a tooth in the same state of decay with the
others: its broken condition does not allow Mr. Owen,
without further comparison, to come to any definite conclusion
; but the part that is perfect, resembles in every respect
the tooth of the common horse.* All these remains were
found embedded in a beach which is covered at spring tides ;
and the space in which they were collected could not have
exceeded one hundred and fifty yards square. It is a remarkable
circumstance that so many different species should
be found together ; and it proves how numerous in kind the
ancient inhabitants of this country must have been.
At the distance of about thirty miles, in another cliff of
red earth, I found several fragments of bones. Among
them were the teeth of a rodent, much narrower, but
even larger than those of the Hydrochærus capybara; the
animal which has been mentioned as exceeding in dimensions
every existing member of its order. There was
» W i th re s p e c t to th e rem a in s o f th e la s t a n im a l, a s som e d o u b t
m ay b e e n te r ta in e d b y o th e rs , r e s p e c tin g its o rig in ; i t m u s t b e rem a rk e d ,
t h a t i t was fa irly em b e d d e d in th e g rav e l w ith th e o th e r b o n e s ; a n d
t h a t its s ta te o f d e c ay was e q u a l. T o th is c irc um s ta n c e i t m ay h e ad d e d ,
t h a t th e s u r ro u n d in g c o u n try is w i th o u t fre sh w a te r, a n d is u n in h a b ite d ,
a n d t h a t th e s e ttlem e n t, its e lf o n ly o f five y e a rs s ta n d in g , is tw en ty -liv e
m ile s d is ta n t.
also part of the head of a Ctenomys ; the species being different
from the Tucutuco, but with a close general resemblance.
The remains at Punta Alta were associated, as before
remarked, with shells of existing species. These have not
as yet been examined with scrupulous care, but it may be
safely asserted, that they are most closely similar to the
species now living in the same b a y : it is also very remarkable,
that not only the species, but the proportional numbers
of each kind, are nearly the same with those now cast
up on the pebble beaches. There are eleven marine species
(some in an imperfect state), and one terrestrial. If I had
not collected living specimens from the same bay, some of
the fossils would have been thought extinct; for Mr.
Sowerby, who was kind enough to look at my collection,
had not previously seen them. We may feel certain that
the bones have not been washed out of an older formation,
and embedded in a more recent one, because the remains of
one of the Edentata were lying in their proper relative
position (and partly so in a second case); which could not
have happened, without the carcass had been washed to the
spot where the skeleton is now entombed.
We here have a strong confirmation of the remarkable
law so often insisted on by Mr. Lyell, namely, that the
“ longevity of the species in the mammalia, is upon the
whole inferior to that of the testacea.” * When we proceed
to the southern part of Patagonia, I shall have occasion to
describe the case of an extinct camel, from which the same
result may be deduced.
From the shells being littoral species (including one
terrestrial), and from the character of the deposit, we may
feel absolutely certain that the remains were embedded in a
shallow sea, not far from the coast. From tlie position of
the skeleton being undisturbed, and likewise from the fact
that full-grown serpula; were attached to some of the bones,
* I’rin c ip le s o f G e o lo g y , vol. iv., p. 40.
VOL. ITf . II