22 LLOYD'S NAT@RAL HISTORY. 
remarkable that, whereas the typical Cats (7é/is) are unknown 
in Europe before the middle of the Miocene division of the 
Tertiary period, and in North America not earlier than the 
Upper Miocene or Lower Pliocene, in France the apparently 
more specialised sabre-toothed Tigers (Aacherodus) are met 
with in the Quercy Phosphorites belonging to the antecedent 
Oligocene division of the Tertiary. 
At the present day, as we have seen, the nearest relations 
of the Fe/id@ appear to be the Civets (Viverride) ; the aberrant 
Cryploprocta of Madagascar being the most Cat-like form 
among the latter. Both these groups agree in the general 
structure of the base of the skull, while the teeth of the Cryf- 
toprocta are practically indistinguishable from those of the 
felide. From this structural resemblance, coupled with the 
common occurrence of Civet-like animals in the earlier Tertiary 
strata of Europe, it has been generally considered that the Cats 
have taken origin from Carnivora more or less closely allied 
to the Civets. There exists, however, a group of extinct car- 
nivorous Mammals known as Creodonts, the teeth of which 
differ markedly in structure from those of the existing members 
of the Order; and it has been recently suggested by North 
American Palzontologists that the /e/ide have originated from 
one of these Creodonts quite independently of the other existing 
Carnivora. Ifthis should prove well-founded, the resemblances 
existing between the skulls and teeth of the Cats and Civets 
would be due to what is known as parallelism in development, 
and the apparent relationship existing between the two groups 
merely an instance of what is termed convergence. Without, 
however, denying the possibility that the American Palzonto 
logists may be correct, the writer would submit that mor 
decisive evidence is required before it can be definitely ac- 
cepted that there is no intimate relationship between the Cats 
and the Civets, 
