434 



GENERAL ZOOLOGY 



lions, hyenas, bears, rhinoceroses, and gigantic ungulates. In 

 Australia, as will be expected from what has been said of the 

 distribution of the group, there were marsupials of various 

 species. 



But the great interest of the Quaternary Period centers 

 about man. If it is not yet possible to prove to the satisfac- 

 tion of every one the existence of man in the Glacial Epoch 

 in North America, it is certain that he was in existence in 

 Europe at that time. It would be interesting to know, if 

 possible, how far distant we should place this period, and 



FIG. 229. Primeval Drawing of Mammoth on Mammoth Tusk 

 (From Lucas' Animals of the Past) 



where man first appeared on the earth, but to neither of these 

 questions can any satisfactory answer be given. Regarding 

 the time, estimates have been made in various ways, reaching 

 conclusions which vary greatly. A conservative estimate is 

 that the Glacial Epoch began two million four hundred thou- 

 sand years ago and ended eighty thousand years ago. Regard- 

 ing the place of man's origin, it has been asserted that his 

 earliest home was Africa, because the great apes, which most 

 resemble him, live there to-day ; or that it was somewhere in 

 equatorial regions, where the vegetation is abundant and the 

 climate quite similar throughout the year ; others claim that 

 it was on some of the high plains of the temperate zone, like 



