HISTORY OF THE CARNIVORA 545 



The western hemisphere at the present day contains none 

 of the very large species, the Puma and Jaguar being the largest ; 

 but this was not true of the Pleistocene, where a huge cat 

 {Felis fatrox), surpassing the Lion in size, ranged over the 

 southern half of North America. Enormous cats also lived 

 in the lower Pliocene and upper Miocene of the Great Plains 



Fig. 271. — Skull of Puma {Fdis concolor). p. 4, upper carnassial. The upper molar 



is concealed. 



region, but are not sufficiently well known for reference to 

 either subfamily. 



The history of the true felines has been but partially 

 deciphered, and can, as yet, be traced back only to the middle 

 Miocene, the genus ^Pseudcelurus representing the series both 

 in Europe and North America. In this genus the dental 

 formula was nearly the same as in Felis, but there was fre- 

 quently an additional small premolar in the lower jaw and the 

 sectorials were more primitive, the upper one having the acces- 

 sory anterior cusp in a merely incipient stage and in the lower 

 2n 



