36o 



HISTORICAL PALAEONTOLOGY. 



celebrated Cave-bear {Ursiis spelceus, fig. 268), which is now 

 extinct. The Cave-bear exceeded in its dimensions the largest 



Fig. 268. — Skull of Urstis spelcB7is. Post-Pliocene, Europe. One-sixth 

 of the natural size. 



of modern Bears ; and its remains, as its name implies, have 

 been found mainly in cavern-deposits. Enormous numbers of 

 this large and ferocious species must have lived in Europe in 

 Post-Glacial times ; and that they survived into the human 

 period, is clearly shown by the common association of their 

 bones with the implements of man. They are occasionally 

 accompanied by the remains of a Glutton (the Gulo spelceus), 

 which does not appear to be really separable from the existing 

 Wolverine or Glutton of northern regions (the Gulo liiscus). 

 In addition, we meet with the bones of the Wolf, Fox, Weasel, 

 Otter, Badger, Wild Cat, Panther, Hyaena, and Lion, &c., 

 together with the extinct Machairodus or "Sabre-toothed 

 Tiger." The only two of these that deserve further mention 

 are the Hyaena and the Lion. The Cave-hyaena {Hy^na 

 spelcBa, fig. 269) is regarded by high authorities as nothing 

 more than a variety of the living Spotted Hy^na (H. crocutd) 

 of South Africa. This well-kno^\^l species inhabited Britain 

 and a considerable portion of Europe during a large part of 

 the Post-Pliocene period ; and its remains often occur in great 

 abundance. Indeed, some caves, such as the Kirkdale Cavern 

 in Yorkshire, were dens inhabited during long periods by these 

 animals, and thus contain the remains of numerous individuals 

 and of successive generations of Hyaenas, together with in- 

 numerable gnawed and bitten bones of their prey. That the 

 Cave-hyaena was a contemporary with IMan in Western Europe 

 during Post-Glacial times is shown beyond a doubt by the 

 common association of its bones ^nith human implements. 



