LORE: Camelidae Family
Around 45 million years ago, during the
Eocene Period, Camels and Llamas began from a common ancestor in South
America, and they started moving north
- through Central and North America
and across the Bering Straight into Asia,
dispersing Camels and Llamas across
the globe. It would be naive to believe
that Rockport and the surrounding areas
didn’t see some of that action.
DAWN HORSE (sp. Hyracotherium)
The Dawn Horse lived 55 million years
ago. It stood only 35 centimeters tall,
with four hoofed toes on its front two feet
and three on the back two. Its remains
have been found in the Americas as well
as the European Continent.
ANCIENT BISON
(sp. Bison Antiquus)
They may be extinct, but their demise was
hardly ancient, being slaughtered by the
hundreds of thousands back before the
turn of the century. ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody
got his name for killing over two thousand Ancient Bison during a period of 18
months.
When they were in good numbers, reports
of single herds 25 miles across were not
uncommon.
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