614 



THE CARNIVORES 



SIDE-VIEW OF SKUU, OF CAVE-BEAR. 



by the extremely fine tuberculation of their crowns, in which, when unworn, the 

 enamel has a kind of wavy pattern. 



The cave-bear, although it had a wide range in Europe, is unknown both in 

 the extreme north and the extreme south of that continent; it is found in the 

 British Isles as far north as Yorkshire, but it is not definitely known to occur in 



Ireland. The number of in- 

 dividuals inhabiting Brixham 

 cave, near Torquay, and the 

 celebrated cavern of Gailen- 

 reuth in Franconia, must have 

 been prodigious, although it 

 will be obvious that all of these 

 did not exisit at one time. 

 From its size, which exceeded 

 that of the largest grizzly, as 

 well as from its numbers, it 

 must have been a formidable 

 foe to the early hunters of 



Europe, armed only with flint hatchets and spears. In the earlier Pliocene deposits 

 of Europe there occur the remains of the Etruscan bear ( U. arvemensis] , which 

 was considerably inferior in size to the brown bear. The extinct Theobald's bear 

 (U. theobaldi) from the Siwalik hills of Northern India, appears to have been a 

 species closely connecting the typical bears with the one next on our list. 



THE SLOTH-BEAR 

 Genus Melursus 



The well-known Indian sloth-bear (Melursus .ur sinus) , commonly known in its 

 native country by the name of Bhalu, but by the Mahrattas termed the Aswal, 

 differs so remarkably from all the other members of the family that it is generally 

 regarded as forming a genus by itself. It differs from all the typical bears by 

 having but two pairs of incisor or front teeth in the upper jaw, so that the total 

 number of teeth is forty instead of forty-two. Moreover, all the cheek-teeth are 

 much smaller in proportion to the size of the skull than in other bears, while the 

 palate of the skull is deeply concave, instead of being nearly flat. The claws are 

 also unusually large and powerful, and the snout and lower lip are much elongated 

 and very mobile. The sloth-bear is, at best, but an ugly-looking animal, and is 

 generally of smaller size and less bulk than the Himalayan black bear. It is covered 

 with very long and coarse fur, which attains its greatest length on the shoulders. 

 With the exception of the end of the muzzle being dirty gray, and of the white 

 chevron on the chest, the color of the fur is black, but the long claws are white. 

 As regards size, this species measures from about four and one-half feet to five feet 

 eight inches in the length of the head and body, the tail generally measuring from 

 four to five inches, exclusive of the hair ; the height at the shoulder varying from 

 two feet two inches to about two feet nine inches. Large males may weigh as much 



