58 THE MAMMOTH. 



A solution then may be oiFered by supposing that a vegeta- 

 tion once flourished between the latitudes 40° and 65° N. 

 capable of nourishing this great quadruped. 



In regard to Europe and America during the mammoth 

 epoch we meet with no difficulty, for such food as it required 

 was abundant. 



VII. EPOCH. 



The epoch of the mammoth has been assigned to the post- 

 tertiary, but there are certain evidences, already alluded 

 to, which point to the latter part of the Pliocene as the 

 time of the birth of the mammoth. It lived throughout 

 the long glacial period, and, in Europe, survived it for 

 many ages. Its bones, in various localities, have been 

 found in company w^ith those of the mastodon. In Europe 

 the period of these two species is different, the mastodon 

 having long preceded the mammoth ; while in America it 

 was the contemporary of the 31. giganteus. There is one 

 instance of mastodon molars occurring with mammoth 

 teeth in Europe, in the quaternary formation of Imola. 

 This would seem to indicate that some stragglers continued 

 to live in Europe until the time of the mammoth. The 

 mammoth, in Europe, became extinct about the beginning 

 of the Reindeer epoch. It had ceased to flourish before 

 that time. It is not improbable that it became extinct in 

 the United States about the same time. In the latter 

 country no complete skeleton has yet been found. It 

 should be remarked that it has been claimed that the mam- 

 moth of Europe is found only in the drift stratum, while 

 that of the United States is imbedded above the drift. 

 From this it has been concluded that the mammoth 

 of America is distinctly of a more recent age. But as the 

 true diluvial of Europe precedes the Reindeer epoch, by a 

 long period, it would show that the mammoth survived the 

 period intervening between the diluvial and the Reindeer 



