INTRODUCTION. XX XIX 
equally true in respect of the fossil. Not a relic of an 
Elephant, a Rhinoceros, a Hippopotamus, a Bison, a 
Hyzna,* or a Lagomys, has yet been detected in the caves 
or the more recent tertiary deposits of South America. 
On the contrary, most of the Fossil Mammalia from 
those formations are as distinct from the Europzxo-Asiatic 
forms, as they are closely allied to the peculiarly South 
American existing genera of Mammalia. 
The genera Lquus, Tapirus, and the still more ubiquitous 
Mastodon, form the chief, if not sole exceptions. The 
representation of Hguus, during the pliocene period, by 
distinct species in Asia (4. primigenius) and in South 
America (H. curvidens), is analogous to the geographical 
distribution of the species of J'apirus at the present day. 
Fossil Tapirs have been found both in Europe and in 
South America. 
Pangolins still exist in Asia and in Africa, and, as we 
have seen, a gigantic extinct species has been found in 
the middle tertiary beds of Europe, but not a trace of a 
scaly Anteater, recent or extinct, has been discovered in 
South America, where the Edentate order is so richly 
represented by other generic and specific forms. 
South America alone is now inhabited by species of 
Sloth, of Armadillo, of Cavy, Aguti, Ctenomys, and Pla- 
tyrrhine Monkey ; but no fossil remains of a quadruped 
referable to any of these genera have yet been discovered 
+ Dr. Lund (‘Danish Transactions,’ Cirsted, Kisbenh, 1842, p. 16,) dis- 
covered the remains of an extinct Carnivore in a Brazilian cavern, which he at 
first announced as a species of Hyena, but he has since recognised very dis- 
tinctive dental characters, and refers it to a new genus, which he calls Srzlodon. 
From the figures which he has given of the canine and incisor teeth, it seems to 
belong to the same genus (Machairodus) as the so-called Ursus cultridens of Bu- 
rope, and this is certainly the case with portions of the skull, lower jaw, and 
teeth, since discovered in the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, and now in the British 
Museum. 
