MAMMALIAN FAUNA IN NORTH AMERICA. 581 



the largest, the most numerous, and the latest, was the primigenius or 

 Mammoth. This species roamed in immense herds all over Europe, 

 from the shores of the Mediterranean to Siberia, and extended also over 

 the northern portions of North America. In Siberia the tusks are so 

 abundant and so well preserved that much of the ivory of commerce is 

 got from this source. 



The Mammoth (Fig. 948) was over twice the bulk and weight of 

 the largest modern species, and nearly one third taller. It was thick- 

 ly covered with a brownish wool, and in parts with long hair ; and 

 was therefore well adapted to endure cold. It may seem strange that 

 we should speak of the hair and wool and the color of an extinct 

 animal ; but perfectly-preserved specimens have been found sealed in 

 the ice in Siberia — so perfectly preserved that, when first exposed, 

 wolves and dogs of the present epoch fed on the flesh of this animal 

 belonging to an extinct fauna. The whole skeleton, with portions 

 of the skin, hair, wool, hoofs, and eyes of this animal, is now to be 

 found in the museum at St. Petersburg. The existence of elephants 

 so far north does not indicate a warm climate, although the Cham- 

 plain epoch was doubtless far less rigorous than the Glacial. These 

 elephants were covered with thick wool, as was also the rhinoceros of 

 Europe. 



Quaternary Mammalian Fauna of England. — In England alone there 

 were, in Quaternary times, of Carnivora, the great Cave-bear, the Cave- 

 hyena, a tiger larger than the Bengal, the sabre-toothed tiger, as large, 

 with its flat, curved tusks, eight inches beyond the gums, besides wolves 

 and lesser Carnivores. Of Herbivores, there were the Mammoth in 

 herds, two species of rhinoceros, one hippopotamus, the great Irish elk, 

 three species of oxen, two of them of gigantic size, besides horses, deer, 

 and other smaller species. Surely this was the culmination of the 

 Mammalian age in England. 



Mammalian Fauna in North America. 



The animals of North America, in Quaternary times, were equally 

 abundant ; but the country has been less perfectly explored, and the 

 collections, therefore, less complete. Bone-caverns, the richest sources 

 of European collections, are also far more rare. 



Among Herbivores, the most remarkable were the great Mastodon 

 (M. Americanus) ; two species of elephants, the E. Americanus and the 

 E. primigenius ; at least two gigantic bisons, one of which was prob- 

 ably ten feet between the horn-tips ; * gigantic horses ; gigantic beavers, 



* A specimen of Bos latifrons has recently been found in Ohio, the horn-cores of which 

 were twenty inches around the base, and more than seven feet between the points. Be- 

 tween the horn-tips must have been at least ten feet. 



