﻿150 PLEISTOCENE MAMMALIA. 



three animals were placed in serial order, Felis leo would occupy the middle place, the 

 points of difference between Lion and Tiger being exaggerated in Felis spelaea. Secondly, 

 that while it is undoubtedly true that Felis spelaa was on the whole a larger and stouter 

 animal than the existing Lion, some individuals are even smaller than some of the larger 

 Lions of the present day, the series of spelaean remains not presenting greater contrasts in 

 size than those of the recent Lion. And lastly, that there is not one character by which 

 the animal can be distinguished from the living Lion. It must therefore be admitted 

 that Felis speltea is specifically identical with the Lion now living on the face of the 

 earth. And this being the case, it becomes a serious question as to whether the term 

 Felis spelaea should not be struck out of palseontological catalogues. Since, however, it 

 has occupied a space in scientific nomenclature for more than fifty years, it is perhaps 

 more convenient to term the animal Felis leo, var. spelaa, thus ipdicating that variety of 

 the Lion that inhabited the caves of Northern and Western Europe during the Post-glacial 

 epoch. Its range in Britain, and the causes of its extermination in Western Europe, will 

 be considered in the next two chapters, and evidence will be adduced that will bring the 

 sojourn of the animal in Europe down to a time not far distant from the Christian era. 



