162 MATTHEW— RECENT DISCOVERIES OF 



terial. The freshwater and Httoral sediments of continental areas 

 are unknown in the West Indies, even in the larger islands (with 

 one or two unimportant and doubtful exceptions) and it is from 

 these that our fossil records of land animals are almost wholly 

 derived. There was, and is, therefore, very little prospect of dis- 

 covering remains of the Tertiary or pre-Tertiary land faunas of the 

 West Indies. The possibilities are practically limited to the Pleis- 

 tocene. 



Up to a few years ago two important discoveries had been made. 

 One was the giant rodent Amblyrhiza found in cave-breccia on the 

 island of Anguilla, and described by Cope in 1869. The affinities of 

 this animal, about the size of a capybara, have been disputed. Cope 

 regarding it as allied to the South American chinchillas, while J. A. 

 Allen considered it as a relative of the extinct Castoroides or " giant 

 beaver" of North America. Dr. Allen's view, although mistaken, 

 seems to have been more generally accepted. The other discovery 

 was a ground-sloth jaw and some other remains found near Cien- 

 fuegos in Cuba, and described by Dr. Leidy under the name of 

 Megalocniis, as a near relative of the North American ground-sloth 

 Megalonyx. For reasons that I shall explain later the Cuban dis- 

 covery was little known and more or less discredited in scientific 

 discussion. The Megalocnus was supposed to be identical with 

 Megalonyx, but many doubted whether the specimen really came 

 from Cuba. Such as it was, the evidence from fossils seemed to 

 point strongly to a land connection with North America as late as 

 the Pleistocene, extending at least as far as Anguilla. This no 

 doubt played its part in the very prevalent belief in an Antillean 

 continent, united with the greater continents to north and south of 

 it, destroyed only in times geologically very recent. 



The characters of the modern Antillean faunas were very diffi- 

 cult to reconcile with this hypothesis. Their insular character is 

 very marked, whatever theories might be entertained as to the origin 

 of the various animals. And what was known of the geology did 

 not at all accord with the view that they were fragmented remnants 

 of a great continent recently broken up. A diligent search for 

 fossil remains and a more thorough and systematic study of the 

 geology was very much needed. 



