Lectionary Calendar
Monday, November 4th, 2024
the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
Attention!
For 10¢ a day you can enjoy StudyLight.org ads
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!

Bible Encyclopedias
Tillodontia

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

Search for…
or
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
Prev Entry
Tile
Next Entry
Tilsit
Resource Toolbox
Additional Links

a group of mammals of uncertain position, typified by Tillotherium from the Middle Eocene of Wyoming, (From Marsh.) Skull of Tillotherium fodiens. (4 nat. size.) and perhaps including Esthonyx from the Lower Eocene of the same district, and other genera from the same horizon in both North America and Europe. In Tillotherium the skull is decidedly rodent-like, with an elongated cranial and a short facial portion, and a small brain-cavity; the jugal bone occupying the middle of the zygomatic arch. The dentition, of which the formula is i. -, c. 1, p. 2 i m. 3, also approximates to the rodent type, the canines being minute and functionless, and the first pair of incisors large and chisel-like. On these and other grounds it has been suggested that Tillotherium (of which the greater part of the skeleton is known) indicates the ancestral form of the Rodentia. Professor Max Weber considers, however, that such a view has but little justification. Relationship with the Ungulata and Carnivora has also been suggested; if there be any with the latter, it must have been with the most primitive forms, as the plantigrade feet are furnished with five toes carrying long pointed claws.

Possibly Platychoerops richardsoni, from the Lower Eocene London Clay, belongs to the group. (R. L.*)

Bibliography Information
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Tillodontia'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​bri/​t/tillodontia.html. 1910.
 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile