ANCIENT MAMMALS Of BRITAIN. JOI 



tunately, only known to us by a small fragment of the upper 

 jaw containing a single tooth, which was obtained many years 

 ago from the brick-earth of Grays, in Essex. Although the 

 majority of the Macaques, together with their allies the Langurs, 

 are now inhabitants of warm regions, it must not be forgotten 

 .hat a representative of each is found in Tibet, where the 

 vvinter cold is intense. This species is the only evidence yet 

 Krnown of the occurrence of Monkeys in Britain. 



Passing by the Bats and Insectivores, as pertaining exclu- 

 sively to existing species, we proceed to the Carnivores. Among 

 these, the rarest is a species of Sabre-toothed Tiger {Machcer- 

 odus latidens)^ of which specimens of the enormous serrated 

 upper tusks have been obtained from Kent's Hole, near Tor- 

 quay. These Sabre-tooths were widely distributed during the 

 Pleistocene and Pliocene Epochs, having been discovered in 

 Europe, Persia, India, and North and South America ; but 

 they seem to have been a type less adapted for persistence 

 than the ordinary and less specialised Cats. Side-by-side with 

 this extinct species lived the Lion, whose remains have been 

 found, not only in most of the English caves, but likewise in 

 many of the brick-earths and river-gravels. Although we are 

 accustomed to regard the Lion as essentially an inhabitant of 

 the hot districts of India and Africa, it must be remembered 

 that even in the historic period it was common in South-eastern 

 Europe, while its near ally, the Tiger, ranges northwards into 

 Siberia, where an unusually long and thick coat protects it 

 from the winter-cold. The Lynx {^Felis lynx) and the Leopard 

 {F. pardus) were likewise British animals during the Cavern 

 Period ; the former being to a great extent an inhabitant of 

 northern regions. Although the great Cave- Hyaena was for- 

 merly regarded as an extinct species only, it is now considered 

 to be merely a large race of the Spotted African species (Jlyceiia 

 croaita\ differing from the Striped Hyaena, not only in its 



