206 EVOLUTION IN THE PAST 



found his way to the continent. All ground-sloths, however, 

 have now gone to their long sleep a condition for which 

 they were well prepared. 



The " sabre-toothed " cats, big and bloated though they 

 had become in a land of plenty, were, however, now drawing 

 to their end. Carnivores better brained, and less enormously 

 tusked, such as jaguars and ocelots, were already in the 

 land ; and pumas were probably working their way down 

 from North America. " Sabre-tooths " had certainly had a 

 long and widespread career. Originating apparently in 

 Europe in the Oligocene Period, they had spread to Asia, 

 thence to North America, and were now making havoc among 

 the fauna of the Southern continent. Their end seems to 

 have been somewhat abrupt, as no trace is found of them in 

 any country after this Period. Professor Flower expressed an 

 opinion that the tusks ultimately became so inconveniently 

 long as to render it almost impossible for the animals to eat. 

 Creatures in such predicament, with palatable prey near but 

 not negotiable, bring to mind the fate of Tantalus. 



AUSTRALIA Australia had long been cut off by the sea from the benefits 

 of what may be called advancing civilisation ; and her vast 

 territory of over 3,000,000 square miles was dominated by 

 marsupials. Here, far away from the "madding crowd," these 

 creatures had branched and re-branched in various directions ; 

 and whilst their relatives in other lands had sunk into utter 

 insignificance, they themselves were enjoying a golden age. 



A great part of the island-continent was probably then, 

 as now, more or less desert in character ; but the coastal 

 regions, refreshed by heavy rains, doubtless abounded with 

 rich feeding grounds. And there is geological evidence that 

 some of the now arid central lands were in Pleistocene times 

 well watered and fertile. 



Favoured in some districts by vegetation ample and 

 nutritious, the animals were of huge dimensions. Creatures 

 of wombat form, but as large as hippopotamuses (Diproto- 

 don), and kindred brutes, suggestive of tapirs overgrown 

 (Nototherium), testified to a prosperity continued through 

 many generations. Kangaroos with skulls nearly a yard in 

 length were here, looking as if some old bipedal dinosaurs had 



