A HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE 



in all the above-named caverns, as well as in the Oreston fissures. 

 Remains of the Pleistocene race of the hippopotamus {Hippopotamus 

 amphtbius major), always rare in cavern deposits, have been recorded from 

 Kent's Hole, and those of the wild boar {Sus scrofaferus) from the Ores- 

 ton fissures. 



Teeth and other remains of the wild horse {Equus caballus fossilis) 

 occur in Brixham and Kent's Cave, as well as in the Oreston fissures ; 

 and two upper molar teeth from Oreston were regarded by Owen' as 

 indicating a fossil ass or zebra, which was named Asinus fossilis, but their 

 right to distinction has not been subsequently recognized. The three 

 common Pleistocene species of rhinoceros have been recorded from the 

 county. Of these the woolly Siberian 'species {Rhinoceros antiquitatis) , a 

 near relative of the living Burchell's rhinoceros of south and central 

 Africa, occurs in Brixham and Kent's Cave and at Oreston, as well as in 

 another Pleistocene deposit near Plymouth. The leptorhine rhinoceros 

 {R. leptorhinus), another two-horned species, distinguished by the simpler 

 form of its upper molar teeth, is recorded from Brixham Cave, and the 

 closely allied Merck's rhinoceros {R. mercki) from Oreston. The latter 

 identification is important, since the species in question has been re- 

 corded elsewhere from British caves only at Gower in Glamorganshire. 

 Finally, the mammoth {Elephas primigenius), a near relative of the exist- 

 ing Indian elephant, is abundantly represented by teeth and other remains 

 in Brixham Cave, Kent's Hole and the Oreston fissures. It has also 

 been recorded from Sidmouth. 



The bird remains ^ from Devonshire include a tarso-metatarsus of 

 the snowy owl {Nyctea nycted) from Kent's Hole, the bones of the buz- 

 zard {Buteo buteo) from Brixham Cave, a femur from Kent's Hole assigned 

 to the blackcock {Tetrao tetrix), and a considerable series of bones from 

 Brixham Cave referred to an undetermined species of sheldrake {T'ad- 

 orna). All the above are in the British Museum. In addition to these 

 there is said to be a falcon nearly allied to or identical with the pere- 

 grine {Falco peregrinus), the evidence resting on bones from a cave at 

 Berry Head. 



Passing on to the Mesozoic and Palaeozoic formations of the county, 

 we have first of all to refer to remains of that remarkable reptile Hypero- 

 dapedon gordoni from the Keuper of High Peak near Sidmouth. The 

 reptile in question, which was first made known on the evidence of 

 remains from the Trias of Elgin, is a relative of the tuatera, a lizard-like 

 reptile now inhabitating two small islands near New Zealand, and the 

 sole existing representative of a once numerous order. The Sidmouth 

 specimen, a fragment of the upper jaw, is described by Huxley in 

 vol. XXV. (p. 146) of the ^arterly Journal of the Geological Society. 

 The only other English county in which remains of Hyperodapedon have 

 been discovered is Warwick. The Sidmouth Keuper has likewise 

 yielded remains of the primeval salamanders, or labyrinthodonts, the 



* Brit. Toss. Mamm. and Birds. 

 ' See Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Birds Brit. Mus. 11 90. 

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