28 STUDIES IN THE EVOLUTION OF ANIMALS 



In these variations we again find a parallel in Odontoglossum. 

 Some species are pure white, with maroon blotches, or spots, or 

 bars, while others 2.r& yellow, with maroon blotching. 



The spots on the legs and tail of the Lion of Fig. 16 («) leave 

 no doubt that the ancestors of the Lion and Leopard were one. In 

 adult Lions the rosettes become more and more obliterated, but in 

 the young they cannot be mistaken for other than Leopard -spotting. 

 The same may be said of the spots on the fore-leg of the Puma 

 shown in Fig. 16 {b). In the Science and Art Museum of Edin- 

 burgh there is a largish Cat, ticketed Pmna, which may be a 

 young one. It is of a light reddish-fawn colour,' with distinct spots 

 all over it of a deeper fawn. Its present general colour is not 

 unlike that of the red domestic Cat. 



The Encyclopcsdia Britannica says : ' The young of the Puma, as in 

 the case with the other plain-coloured Felidce, are, when born, spotted 

 with dusky brown, and the tail ringed. These markings gradually 

 fade, and quite disappear before the animal becomes full-grown.' 



Some varieties of Lynx, although their backs are plain, have 

 spots on their abdomen and legs. These may be seen in the Natural 

 History Museum. 



Then there is a large number of widely different animals, such 

 as Racoons, Lemurs, and many others,^ which, although they have 

 neither spots nor stripes on their bodies and legs, yet have distinct 

 rings on their tails, like those of the Leopards and Tigers of our 

 illustrations. Therefore, all these ring-tailed animals should, I 

 think, be credited with either a spotted or a striped ancestry. 



In the Appendix I have given a list of animals, of very varied 

 natures, which have ring-tails. They probably all descended from 

 spotted ancestors, and the marks on their tails are the only vestige 

 which now indicates the history of their ancestry. 



' Skins become faded in time. ^ See Appendix E. 



