6
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
The explanation seems to be, that in Pliocene times the immediate
ancestors of H. crocuta lived in India, as shown by their remains
in the sandstones of the Siwalik Hills.12 In Pleistocene times
H. crocuta itself actually appeared in India, as proved by dis-
coveries in the Karnul caves in Madras. Thence it spread
westwards, covering not only a large part of Europe, but also
the whole of Africa ; for fragments of the species have been
found in the caves of Algeria, proving that it lived in the
north as well as in the south of Africa. At the end of Pleistocene
times H. crocuta completely disappeared from northern regions
and became restricted to its present southern range. This
hyaena seems to have existed in Europe throughout the Pleistocene
period during both the colder and the warmer episodes ; and
the early variety, represented by jaws at Grays, is considered
by Freudenberg13 to resemble the Pliocene ancestor more
closely than do the later varieties of the species.
Wolf.—In deposits of later than Pleistocene age, it is often
difficult or impossible to distinguish the remains of the wolf
from those of large domestic dogs, unless the whole skull is avail-
able. 14 In Pleistocene deposits, however, no doubtful speci-
mens have hitherto been noticed. There is still no indication
that Palaeolithic Man had a domestic dog, and the only large
Canidae are evidently varieties of a wolf.
Bear.—The fragmentary remains of the bears are so variable
that it is almost impossible to name and interpret most of
them. The general conclusion at present seems to be, that
at the end of the Pliocene period there had already appeared
in Europe several varieties of the ordinary brown bear (Ursus
arctos). Some of these passed into a bear almost identical with
the existing North American grizzly, while others became the
European brown bear of to-day. Others increased immensely
in size, acquired large frontal bosses and enlarged molar teeth
and produced the most powerful form of bear that ever existed—
the so-called cave bear (Ursus spelaeus), which lived throughout
the greater part of the Pleistocene period. According to
Freudenberg,15 the jaws of the large bear, which occur in
12. R. Lydekker, Palaeont. Indica, ser. x., vol. ii. (1884), p. 289.
13 W. Freudenberg, "Die Saugetiere des alteren Quarters von Mitteleuropa," Geol. u.
Palaeont. Abhandl., n.f., vol. xii. (1914), p. 170.
14 S. H. Reynolds, The Pleistocene Canidae (Palaeontographical Society, 1909).
15 W. Freudenberg, op cit., 1914, p. 133.