33 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



THE CAT'S PLACE IN NATURE : ITS ANCESTRY, CLASSIFICATION, STRUCTURE, 



AND DISTRIBUTION. 



T a very remote period in the history 

 of animal life when the struggle for exist- 

 ence was rife, the carnivorous and pre- 

 daceous animals (to which the existing cat 

 belongs) occupied a position in the scale of 

 creation as important as the one they hold to- 

 day. We find locked up in the rocks of the 

 tertiary and recent pleistocene formations the 

 bones and teeth of these ancient cats along 

 with those of the animals upon which they 

 lived. 



These ancestors of our cat had a tolerably wide 

 geographical distribution, and they apparently 

 differed considerably in size, as do the different 

 members of the existing cat family. The 

 crested cat (F. crestata) was probably as large 



as a tiger more re- 

 cent remains having 

 a closer affinity to 

 existing cats are 

 found plentifully in 

 caves and in the 

 deeper beds of 

 rivers and lakes 

 almost all over the 

 British Islands. 



Probably the most 

 remarkable of these 

 extinct cat-like 

 creatures is the 

 Machcerodus, the 

 skulls of which 

 (Fig. ii.), with por- 

 tions of its skeleton, 

 associated with the 

 bones of other ani- 

 mals, have been 

 found in the cave 



deposits in Brazil, North and South America, 

 India, Persia, many parts of Europe, as well as 

 in the British Islands viz. Kent's Cavern, 



B 



FIG. I. BKAIN OF CAT. 



A, Right hemisphere of cerebrum ; 

 B, Cerebellum ; c, Medulla 

 oblongata ; D, Olfactory bulb 

 (nerve of smell) ; K, Convolu- 

 tion, or Gyrus ; F, Fissure. 



Creswell bone caves, and other places. The 

 skull, which is very typical and cat-like in 

 form, is remarkable for the extraordinary 

 development of the upper canine teeth, which 

 in some species exceed seven inches in length. 

 The Machoerodus was about the size of a lion. 

 The ancestors of our cat were certainly more 

 specialised in parts of their organisation. The 

 nearer we approach the recent forms a greater 

 uniformity in structure prevails, until we get 

 in the existing cat-like group (Felis) probably 

 the most consolidated and uniform of all the 

 generic mammalia. 



FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS. 



Under the generic title of Felis are in- 

 cluded over fifty-one distinct species, of 

 which the lion, tiger, leopard, puma, and our 

 common domesticated cat may be taken as 

 representative. They inhabit every region on 

 the earth's surface, except the extreme northern 

 latitudes, and vary in size from the tiger and 

 lion to the little red-spotted cat of India, which 

 does not exceed fifteen or sixteen inches in 

 length. But it is, as already indicated, very 

 uniform in order as regards structural points. 

 All have well-developed, retractile claws, the 

 only exception being the cheetah, whose claws 

 are only partially retractile ; all have five 

 toes on the fore feet, and four on the hind 

 feet ; all the teeth are cusped, or pointed, and 

 specialised for flesh-eating, as well as for ag- 

 gressive purposes. The incisors in front of the 

 upper and lower jaws are small, the four 

 canines well grown and long, with a cutting 

 edge on the inner side ; the molars, or cheek 

 teeth, have one to five cusps, points, or lobes. 

 All the members of the family are digiti- 

 grade (i.e. use only the extremity of the toes 

 in walking) ; the tympanic bulla, or ear-bone, 

 is large and prominent ; the general form of 



