FOSSIL MAMMALS OF WEST INDIES 
285 
Lesser Antilles. A few others live in Trinidad. It is im¬ 
probable that Jamaica was at any time connected by land 
with the Lesser Antilles, independently of the larger islands. 
It is possible, therefore, that the genus, being mainly South 
and Central American, entered the Antilles in two independent 
streams, one from the south, the other from the west. This 
may have taken place when the other large islands had already 
become isolated from Jamaica. 
We have still to consider the remains of some extinct 
mammals which have been traced in the Antilles. To judge 
from recent cave researches in Cuba, we are only now begin¬ 
ning to acquire a knowledge of the past history of this fauna, 
though certain indications enable us to speculate as to its 
general nature and origin. Dr. Spencer * alludes to the dis¬ 
covery in a Cuban cave of large edentate remains belong¬ 
ing to Myomorphus cubensis. This creature, which Dr. 
Matthew informs me is now known as Megalocnus, was about 
the size of a small bear, being a peculiar aberrant specializa¬ 
tion apparently derived from some Miocene (Santa Cruz) 
ground sloth. Professor Ameghino f describes a new species 
of man (Homo cubensis) from a cave in Cuba; and from a 
preliminary report read at the International Congress of 
Geology at Stockholm by Professor de la Torre, we are led to 
infer that other edentates, and also several kinds of rodents, 
lived on this island within comparatively recent geological 
times. Dr. Matthew writes to me that the mammalian re¬ 
mains from Cuba sent to the American Museum of New York 
are awaiting determination. Dr. Spencer ij: also makes refer¬ 
ence to several large species of rodents of the genus Amblyr- 
hiza which were found in the phosphate beds of the small 
island of Anguilla. The Amblyrhiza remains are now thought 
to belong to a single species (A. inundata), closely related to 
Castoroides, a giant beaver, which made its first appearance 
in North America during the Pleistocene Period. The former 
presence in Anguilla and Cuba of large mammals naturally 
suggests that these islands had some continental connection. 
Dr. Spencer, indeed, quotes these fossils in support of the 
* Spencer, J. W., “Antillean Continent,” pp. 128—138. 
t Ameghino, FI., “ Nueva especie del genero Homo,” p. 5. 
t Spencer, J. W., “Fossil Mammals in Cuba,” pp. 512—513. 
