THE MAMMALIA. 47 



was a contemporary of the Mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, cave- 

 lion, cave-bear, Irish elk, and sabre-toothed tiger, all of which 

 exceeded the corresponding forms at present existing in size, and 

 all of which have completely passed away. 



We will now enquire how the Carnivora have fared in the 

 struggle for life. The least specialised family of Carnivores is 

 that of the bears, which, however, holds its own in the world, quite 

 as well as the more highly specialised forms, and, in fact, has 

 something of the dogged persistence in not improving too fast 

 which characterises the pig. In walking, the bear applies the 

 whole sole of the foot to the ground, thereby keeping close to the 

 primitive type of foot. The teeth, also, are only partially adapted 

 to a carnivorous diet, for though the incisors and canines have the 

 ordinary carnivorous form, the " carnassial " tooth, so characteris- 

 tic of the flesh-eaters, has a tuberculate crown, instead of a sharp, 

 cutting edge. The bears proper make their appearance at a com- 

 paratively late date ; the oldest-known types belonging to the 

 genus Hycenarctos of the Miocene. But forms, leading up to 

 the bears, can be traced much further back, till at last we come to 

 the bear-dog, Amphicyon^ from which can be traced the descent of 

 both bears and dogs (Oscar Schmidt, Heilprinn). 



The bear-dog, Hycenarctos, had a more specialised dentition 

 than the bears, and died out early. The true bears have rather 

 increased than diminished in number of species, but in size, no 

 living bear, not even the dreaded " grizzly," could compete with 

 the gigantic cave-bear {Ursiis Spelceus), of the Post-Pliocene 

 period. The " grizzly,.'' itself, is probably identical with " Ursus 

 ferox," of the Tertiary. No fossil remains of bears are to be found 

 in America, so that we may safely conclude the Ursidce to be of 

 European origin. 



The most powerful and highly specialised Carnivores are, of 

 course, the cats (FelidcB), in which the teeth are reduced to thirty. 

 The canines are formidably developed, and all the molars and 

 pre-molars are trenchant, except the last molar in the upper jaw. 

 The claws are withdrawn within sheaths when not in use, and so 

 kept always sharp. The cats have a world-wide distribution, and 

 are the most formidable of modern flesh-eating animals. But 

 they have diminished in size since Post-Pliocene times. The 



