CIVETS, MACHAIRODONTS, AND CATS 181 



Felis lynx. THE EUROPEAN OR NORTHERN LYNX 



The lynxes are fairly large, long-limbed cats, with tufts of hair 

 at the points of their ears, and in most species with a mane 

 growing from the cheeks. They are further characterised by 

 their short tails (sometimes reduced to a mere stump), and by a 

 tendency to lose the minute anterior pair of premolars in the 

 upper jaw. On the other hand, there is a rudimentary talon to 

 the carnassial molar in the lower jaw, which is a more archaic 

 feature than is possessed by other existing cats. Their coats, 

 when marked at all, are variegated with small spots and short 

 stripes formed by a union of spots, but never by rosettes. 

 One member of this group the common lynx, now found in 

 Northern Europe and Temperate Asia inhabited England during 

 the Pleistocene period. Its remains have been found in Durham, 

 Yorkshire, and Derbyshire. It may have lingered here much 

 later than the lion, almost down to the Historic period, for it was 

 only extirpated in France during the nineteenth century, and still 

 exists in Germany. 



Felis brevirostris. THE SHORT-FACED LYNX 



This was a large cat, now extinct, the size of a lynx, with a short 

 face, which has left traces (dating back possibly to the commence- 

 ment of the Pliocene) in Derbyshire as well as in France and 

 Italy. 



Felis caffra. 1 THE EGYPTIAN CAT 



This is a small and common wild cat of Africa, being found 

 (with some gaps in its distribution) from Algeria and Egypt to 

 the Cape of Good Hope, and from Senegal to Syria and Arabia. 

 Anciently it was found in Southern Europe, and its range seems 

 even to have extended to England (Somersetshire) within the 

 Pleistocene period. It is a slimmer animal than the European 



1 Local varieties of this cat in Egypt, Syria, and Arabia are somewhat 

 unnecessarily elevated into separate species, F. maniadata and F. caligata. 

 These names are practically only synonyms of F. caffra. 



