14 



GUIDE TO THE FOSSIL MAMMALS AND BIRDS. 



Table-case are very old Carnivora, mIucIi appear to liaAe Ijeeu always 

 small animals confined to the Old "World. As shown by 

 remains in Table-case 2, Viverra itself seems to have lived 

 unchanged from tlie Upper Eocene period to the present day. 

 The Mustelidse, or weasels, badgers, and otters (Table- 

 case 2), also date back to the Upper Eocene i)eriod, Ijeginning 

 in the Old "Wcnld and then spreading to America. The 

 occurrence of the glutton (Gido luscus) in the English and 

 A\'elsh cave-earths, ami in the Forest Bed, is interesting. 



The raccoons, or Procyonidse, are scarcely known among 

 fossils ; but teeth from the IJed Crag (Lower Pliocene) of 

 Suffolk seem to belong to the existing Indian AUurus or a 

 closely allied genus (plaster cast in Table-case 2). 



Tlie Canidae, or wolves, foxes, jackals and dogs, have 

 scarcely changed in any essential respects since the ^Miocene 

 period, when they already flourished both in the Old World 

 and in Xorth America. Murchison's famous " fossil fox of 



Pier-case 3. Oeningen," from the Upper ]\Iiocene of Baden, is a typical 

 member of the family. Cijnodictis and allied genera (Table- 

 case 2), from the Oligocene Phosphorites and the Upper 

 Pvocene of France, connect the Canidce with the Yiverridte. 



"t^^^hi*^^^^ ^' ^^^^ bears, or Ursidse, which are at present distribute! 1 

 e-case ^^^.g^. ^gg^^.j^. ^^jj |.|^g world, except Australia and Xew Zealand, 



have only had so wide a range since the dawn of the 

 Pleistocene period. So far as known, the family began its 



Fig. 5. — Skull and lower jaw of the Cave-bear {Ursus spelsbun), from a 

 Pleistocene Cavern Deposit in Bavaria ; about one-sixth nat. size. 



existence in Europe and Asia, where there are many remains 

 of Pliocene, Miocene, and Oligocene animals which must be 

 regarded as ancestors. The true bears of modern times are 

 mixed feeders, and have teeth modified accordinglv. In the 



