FOSSIL MAMMALS OP WEST INDIES 285 



Lesser Antilles. A few others live in Trinidad. It is im- 

 probable that Jamaica was at any time connected by land 

 with the Lesser Antilles, independently of the larger islands. 

 It is possible, therefore, that the genus, being mainly South 

 and Central American, entered the Antilles in two independent 

 streams, one from the south, the other from the west. This 

 may have taken place when the other large islands had already 

 become isolated from Jamaica. 



We have still to consider the remains of some extinct 

 mammals which have been traced in the Antilles. To judge 

 from recent cave researches in Cuba, we are only now begin- 

 ning to acquire a knowledge of the past history of this fauna, 

 tihough certain indications enable us to speculate as to its 

 general nature and origin. Dr. Spencer * alludes to the dis- 

 covery in a Cuban cave of large edentate remains belong- 

 ing to Myomorphus cubensis. This creature, which Dr. 

 Matthew informs me is now known as Megalocnus, was about 

 the size of a small bear, being a peculiar aberrant specializa- 

 tion apparently derived from some Miocene (Santa Cruz) 

 ground sloth. Professor Ameghino f describes a new species 

 of man (Homo cubensis) from a cave in Cuba ; and from a 

 preliminary report read at the International Congress of 

 Geology at Stockholm by Professor de la Torre, we are led to 

 infer that other edentates, and also several kinds of rodents, 

 lived on this island within comparatively recent geological 

 times. Dr. Matthew writes to me that the mammalian re- 

 mains from Cuba sent to the American Museum of New York 

 are awaiting determination. Dr. Spencer J also makes refer- 

 ence to several large species of rodents of the genus Amblyr- 

 hiza which were found in the phosphate beds of the small 

 island of Anguilla. The Amblyrhiza remains are now thought 

 to belong to a single species (A. inundata), closely related to 

 Castoroides, a giant beaver, which made its first appearance 

 in North America during the Pleistocene Period. The former 

 presence in Anguilla and Cuba of large mammals naturally 

 suggests that these islands had some continental connection. 

 Dr. Spencer, indeed, quotes these fossils in support of the 



* Spencer, J. W., " Antillean Continent," pp. 128—138. 

 t Ameghino, FL, " Nueva especie del g^nero Homo," p. 5. 

 t Spencer, J. W., "Possil Mammals in Cuba," pp. 512 — 513. 



