INTRODUCTION. XXXI X 



equally true in respect of the fossil. Not a relic of an 

 Elephant, a Rhinoceros, a Hippopotamus, a Bison, a 

 Hyaena, 1 * or a Lagomys, has yet been detected in the caves 

 or the more recent tertiary deposits of South America. 

 On the contrary, most of the Fossil Mammalia from 

 those formations are as distinct from the Europaeo- Asiatic 

 forms, as they are closely allied to the peculiarly South 

 American existing genera of Mammalia. 



The genera Equus, Tapirus, and the still more ubiquitous 

 Mastodon, form the chief, if not sole exceptions. The 

 representation of Equus, during the pliocene period, by 

 distinct species in Asia (JB. pritnigenius) and in South 

 America (E. curvidens), is analogous to the geographical 

 distribution of the species of Tapirus at the present day. 

 Fossil Tapirs have been found both in Europe and in 

 South America. 



Pangolins still exist in Asia and in Africa, and, as we 

 have seen, a gigantic extinct species has been found in 

 the middle tertiary beds of Europe, but not a trace of a 

 scaly Anteater, recent or extinct, has been discovered in 

 South America, where the Edentate order is so richly 

 represented by other generic and specific forms. 



South America alone is now inhabited by species of 

 Sloth, of Armadillo, of Cavy, Aguti, Ctenomys, and Pla- 

 tyrrhine Monkey ; but no fossil remains of a quadruped 

 referable to any of these genera have yet been discovered 



f Dr. Lund ('Danish Transactions,' CErsted, KiSbenh, 1842, p. 16,) dis- 

 covered the remains of an extinct Carnivore in a Brazilian cavern, which he at 

 first announced as a species of Hy&na, but he has since recognised very dis- 

 tinctive dental characters, and refers it to a new genus, which he calls Smilodon. 

 From the figures which he has given of the canine and incisor teeth, it seems to 

 belong to the same genus (Machairodus') as the so-called Ursus cultridens of Eu- 

 rope, and this is certainly the case with portions of the skull, lower jaw, and 

 teeth, since discovered in the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, and now in the British 

 Museum. 



