PLEISTOCENE OF EUROPE, NORTH AFRICA, AND NORTH AMERICA 469 



decomposition. The chasm into which these remains were swept is from 

 sixty to seventy feet deep, and twenty to thirty feet in diameter at the 

 mouth, with descending walls sloping inward and forming a well-like hole. 

 It is evident that the cave was not fitted for hmnan habitation, even if man 

 had existed in America at the time. The remains were swept in by floods 

 and not drawn in by animals, as in the case of many of the European 

 caves. 



Fortunately a portion of the flora is preserved, consisting entirely of 

 modern species of temperate type, such as the pin-oak (Q. pahistris), white 

 oak (Q. alba), bur-oak (Q. macrocarpa), the beech {F . Jerruginea) , the hazel- 

 nut (Corylus), the pitch pine (Pinus rigida), the plum (Prunus), the pig nut 

 hickory (Carya porcina), the shell-bark hickory (Gary a alba), the Virginia 

 creeper {Ampelopsis quinquefolia), and the thorn (Cratcegus) (Mercer). 



Pennsylvania in mid-Pleistocene times must have been a land of forests, 

 very similar to those of the present time. The tapirs and sloths are the 

 only indications of temperate conditions of the winter climate or of the 

 absence of extremely low temperatures. All the other mammals are of 

 north temperate t}^e. The remains of the giant sloths are most abundant, 

 following which in order of frequency come those of the rabbits, tapirs, 

 mastodons, and peccaries. Among the larger Carnivora, the bears were 

 more numerous than the felines, such as the saber-tooth tigers and the 

 jaguars. The identification of species is largely based upon well-preserved 

 remains, and has passed under the critical eye of Cope and Mercer, but 

 probably still awaits final and precise revision. Conspicuous by their 

 absence are the elephants and the llamas, a fact attributable to local for- 

 ested conditions^because both these animals were probably living in the 

 plains region of the West or in California at this time. One ruminant 

 {Teleopternus orientalis) is described by Cope as an extinct ungulate, 

 allied either to the deer or the camels. Matthew suggests its affinity 

 to Ovibos. 



The fauna is distinctly divisible into forest, glade and meadow, and 

 fluviatile types, as follows: 



The Forest Fauna 



The American mastodon (M. americanus) Two species of fox 



The extinct tapir {Tapirus haysii) Martens, wolverines, skunks, weasels 



The Virginia deer (Odocoileus) {Mustela, Gulo, Mephitis, Pclycidis) 



The extinct ground sloths {Megalonyx, Giant bear allied to the extinct bear of 



Mylodon) South America (Ardotherium haplodon) 



The Canadian tree porcupine {Erethizon Black bear (Ursus americanus) 



dorsatimi) Lynx, ejTa, and (?)jaguar (Uncia inex- 



The squirrel (Sciurus calicinus) pedata) 

 Rabbits and picas {Lepus, Lagomys) 

 Voles, shrews, moles, and bats {Srjcium, 



Blarina, Scalops, Vespertilio) 



