



ON BRITISH FOSSIL MAMMALIA. f\ 



many teeth) ; at Oveston (teeth and bones of the extremities) ; and in Kent's 

 Hole (an entire left ramus of the lower jaw, with other less perfect and in- 

 structive specimens). 



Genus Hycena. 



In regard to the extinct British species of the genus Hycena, little remains 

 to be added to the accurate and graphic history of these Ossivora contained 

 in the ' Reliquiae Diluvianae ' of Dr. Buckland. 



Besides the cave at Kirkland, in which the abundance of Hyaenas' teeth 

 and bones is so extraordinary, the remains of the same species of Hyaena 

 have been found in the caverns at Oreston, at Paviland, at Kent's Hole, and 

 in the Mendips. 



The ancient British Hyaena resembles more closely the Hycena crocuta of 

 South Africa than the Hycena vulgaris of North Africa and Asia Minor : it 

 differs however from the Cape Hyaena in the smaller interspace between the 

 occipital condyle and the mastoid process ; and in the greater relative depth 

 of the posterior plate of the glenoid cavity for the lower jaw. In the spotted 

 Hyaena the anterior and internal tubercle of the penultimate molar (upper 

 jaw) is relatively larger, and the small posterior molar is a little further 

 removed from the penultimate one. The posterior ridge of the second molar 

 tooth of the lower jaw is relatively broader in the fossil than in the recent 

 Hyaena ; the first molar lower jaw is also relatively larger, especially in its pos- 

 terior division, and it is nearer the canine in the fossil Hyaena. The numbers 

 of the Hycena spelcea in England may be conceived, when the remains*of not 

 fewer than from 200 to 300 have been discovered in a single cavern, as that 

 at Kirby Moorside. 



Fossil Hyaenas have been shown by Dr. Buckland to be found in this 

 country, as on the Continent, in situations of two kinds, viz. caverns and drift, 

 or the so-called diluvial gravel. In the latter formation they were first dis- 

 covered in England in the year 1 822, at Lawford near Rugby, associated 

 with bones of the Mammoth, Rhinoceros, Equus, Bos, &c. The integrity of 

 the Hyaena's under-jaw from this locality presents a remarkable contrast 

 with the uniformly fractured condition of the bones from the caverns, and the 

 explanation of, and deductions from, this difference, given by the author of 

 the ' Reliquiae Diluvianae,' are replete with interest. 



Genus Felis. 



The remains of a feline animal surpassing in size the largest existing 

 Lion or Tiger, have been found in the bone-caves of the Mendip Hills, in 

 those at Oreston, at Kirby Moorside, and in Kent's Hole. Of this remarkable 

 species, to which the name of Felis spelcea has been given, most of the cha- 

 racteristic bones have been discovered in the caves at Gailenreuth, proving 

 its true feline structure and its large relative size. 



The metacarpal bone of a large Felis from the Hyaena-cave at Kirby Moor- 

 side does not exceed in size the corresponding bones of the Tiger : it might 

 have belonged to a young individual of the Felis spelcea. In a collection of 

 fossil teeth from the red crag of Newbourne near Woodbridge, the genus 

 Felis is represented by a posterior molar, belonging to the left side of the 

 lower jaw of a species equal in size to the Leopard. This tooth presented 

 the same mineral condition, and had been subject to the same mechanical 

 attrition as the fossil teeth of an extinct Shark (Carcharias megalodoti) found 

 along with it. 



The lower jaw of a species of Felis about the size of the Wild Cat (Felis 

 catus) has been found in Kent's Hole. 



