ANNALS NEW YORE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



are not related to the tiger (F. tigris) as was supposed formerly by De 

 Blainville and Lartet. While rich in individual variations Felis leo 

 spelcea is nearer the lion than the tiger in most of its characters; it 

 should, in fact, be considered a veritable race of the recent lion with the 

 name Felis leo spelcea. It differs from both the recent lion and tiger in 

 the more gentle and uniform slope of its facial profile and in its large, 

 flat forehead, but its limb bones are longer and proportionately thicker. 

 It sometimes equals and often surpasses the existing lions and tigers in 

 size. It is represented in the cave engravings and drawings both of 

 early and late Postglacial times. 



The cave l^aena (Hycena crocuta spelcea) is a variety of the living 

 spotted hyaena (Hycena crocuta) of East Africa, but it attained dimensions 

 considerably greater than that of its living ally. It has the larger propor- 

 tions, the heavier build, the broad skull, the powerful carnassial teeth 

 which distinguish the spotted from the striped hyaena (H. striata) of 

 the present day. Although proportionately heavier the hind limbs may 

 have been shorter than in the spotted hyaena in adaptation to the cavern 

 life which the inclement climate made necessary. The cave hyaena was 

 a very abundant type and is responsible for scattering of the vast num- 

 bers of the bones of the contemporary animals in a manner not pleasing 

 to the palaeontologist. 



In the caves of southern France a variety (Hycena prisons) of the 

 striped hyaena (Hycena striata) also occurs and there are also discovered 

 here additional remains of an animal (H. intermedia) resembling the 

 cave hyaena. Thus the Pleistocene species of European hyaenas under- 

 went an evolution of their own. As a result the living African forms 

 differ more from the Pleistocene hyaenas of Europe than they do from 

 those of Pliocene times. 



Harle 76 records the striped hyaena (H. striata) as characteristic of the 

 earlier or warm Pleistocene of Spain and Portugal ; the cave hyaena (H. 

 crocuta spelcea) survived into the late Pleistocene through adaptation to 

 the cold climate. 



The cave wolf (Canis lupus spelcea), a member of the forest fauna, 

 also attained dimensions greater than its living allies. According to 

 Gaudry and Boule, 77 (1892) no constant osteological differences can be 

 determined between the Pleistocene cave wolf and the modern wolf of 

 western Europe, although the cave form is of considerably larger size. 

 This animal is represented in the Upper Magdalenian paintings of Font 

 de Gaume. 



76 Op. cit., 1910, pp. 46, 70. 



77 GaudrY; A., and Boule, M. : Mat^riaux pour l'Histoire des Temps Quaternaires, 

 Pasc. 4, Les Oubliettes de Gargas. pp. 108-112. Paris, 1892. 



