384 



TAL.KONTOLOGY 



the development of the tubercle bearing an inverse relation to 

 the carnivorous propensities of the species. 



Fig. 132. 

 Dentition of the Bear ( Ursus). 



The finest examples of the large pleistocene lion (Felis 

 spelcea) have been discovered in bone-caves — e.g., in those of 

 Banwell, Somersetshire, and of Belgium. The production of 

 the apex of the nasal process of the maxillary, as far back as 

 that of the nasal bone, proves this species to have been a lion, 

 not a tiger. It roamed over pliocene and pleistocene Europe, 

 and has left its remains in mairy stratified deposits of the 

 former period in Britain. 



Under similar circumstances have been found, more 

 abundantly in Germany, the remains of the gigantic bear 

 {Ursus spelceus), and more abundantly in England those of 

 the great hysena (Hyctrna spelcea), probably a spotted one, 

 like the fierce " Crocuta" of the Cape. Wolves, foxes, badgers, 

 otters, wolverines, and martin-cats, foumarts and weasels, 

 have left their remains in the newer tertiary deposits and 

 bone caves. Bats, moles, and shrews, were then, as now, 

 the forms that preyed upon the insect world in Europe. The 

 majority of these Carnivora, like the hares, rabbits, voles, and 

 other Rodents, are not distinguishable from the species which 

 still exist. These smaller unguiculate Mammals, like the 

 smaller pleistocene Ruminants, seem to have survived those 



