The Ancient Life History of the Earth Part 28

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 267.--Molar tooth of the Mammoth (_Elephas primigenius_), upper jaw, right side, one-third of the natural size. a, Grinding surface; b, Side view. Post-Pliocene.]

Amongst other Elephants which occur in Post-Pliocene deposits may be mentioned, as of special interest, the pigmy Elephants of Malta. One of these--the _Elephas Melitensis_, or so-called "Donkey-Elephant"--was not more than four and a half feet in height. The other--the _Elephas Falconeri_, of Busk--was still smaller, its average height at the withers not exceeding two and a half to three feet.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 268.--Skull of _Ursus spelpeus_. Post-Pliocene, Europe. One-sixth of the natural size.]

Whilst herbivorous animals abounded during the Post-Pliocene, we have ample evidence of the coexistence with them of a number of Carnivorous forms, both in the New and the Old World. The Bears are represented in Europe by at least three species, two of which--namely, the great Grizzly Bear (_Ursus ferox_) and the smaller Brown Bear (_Ursus arctos_)--are in existence at the present day. The third species is the celebrated Cave-bear (_Ursus speloeus_, fig. 268), which is now extinct. The Cave-bear exceeded in its dimensions the largest 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 a.s.sociation of their bones with the implements of man. They are occasionally accompanied by the remains of a Glutton (the _Gulo speloeus_), which does not appear to be really separable from the existing Wolverine or Glutton of northern regions (the _Gulo luscus_).

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 (_Hyoena speloea_, fig. 269) is regarded by high authorities as nothing more than a variety of the living Spotted Hyaena (_H. Crocuta_) of South Africa. This well-known 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 Yorks.h.i.+re, 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 innumerable gnawed and bitten bones of their prey.

That the Cave-hyaena was a contemporary with Man in Western Europe during Post-Glacial times is shown beyond a doubt by the common a.s.sociation of its bones with human implements.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 269.--Skull of _Hyoena speloea_, one-fourth of the natural size. Post-Phocene, Europe.]

Lastly, the so-called Cave-lion (_Felis speloea_), long supposed to be a distinct species, has been shown to be nothing more than a large variety of the existing Lion (_Felis leo_). This animal inhabited Britain and Western Europe in times posterior to the Glacial period, and was a contemporary of the Cave-hyaena, Cave-bear, Woolly Rhinoceros, and Mammoth. The Cave-lion also unquestionably survived into the earlier portion of the human period in Europe.

The Post-Pliocene deposits of Europe have further yielded the remains of numerous _Rodents_--such as the Beaver, the Northern Lemming, Marmots, Mice, Voles, Rabbits, &c.--together with the gigantic extinct Beaver known as the _Trogontherium Cuvieri_ (fig. 270). The great _Castoroides Ohioensis_ of the Post-Pliocene of North America is also a great extinct Beaver, which reached a length of about five feet. Lastly, the Brazilian bone-caves have yielded the remains of numerous Rodents of types now characteristic of South America, such as Guinea-pigs, Capybaras, tree-inhabiting Porcupines, and Coypus.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 270.--Lower jaw of _Trogontherium Cuvieri_, one-fourth of the natural size. Post-Pliocene, Britain.]

The deposits just alluded to have further yielded the remains of various Monkeys, such as Howling Monkeys, Squirrel Monkeys, and Marmosets, all of which belong to the group of _Quadrumana_ which is now exclusively confined to the South American continent--namely, the "Platyrhine" Monkeys.

We still have very briefly to consider the occurrence of Man in Post-Pliocene deposits; but before doing so, it will be well to draw attention to the evidence afforded by the Post-Pliocene Mammals as to the climate of Western Europe at this period. The chief point which we have to notice is, that a considerable revolution of opinion has taken place on this point. It was originally believed that the presence of such animals as Elephants, Lions, the Rhinoceros, and the Hippopotamus afforded an irrefragable proof that the climate of Europe must have been a warm one, at any rate during Post-Glacial times. The existence, also, of numbers of Mammoths in Siberia, was further supposed to indicate that this high temperature extended itself very far north. Upon the whole, however, the evidence is against this view. Not only is there great difficulty in supposing that the Arctic conditions of the Glacial period were immediately followed by anything warmer than a cold-temperate climate; but there is nothing in the nature of the Mammals themselves which would absolutely forbid their living in a temperate climate. The _Hippopotamus major_, though probably clad in hair, offers some difficulty--since, as pointed out by Professor Busk, it must have required a climate sufficiently warm to insure that the rivers were not frozen over in the winter; but it was probably a migratory animal, and its occurrence may be accounted for by this. The Woolly Rhinoceros and the Mammoth are known with certainty to have been protected with a thick covering of wool and hair; and their extension northwards need not necessarily have been limited by anything except the absence of a sufficiently luxuriant vegetation to afford them food. The great American Mastodon, though not certainly known to have possessed a hairy covering, has been shown to have lived upon the shoots of Spruce and Firs, trees characteristic of temperate regions--as shown by the undigested food which has been found with its skeleton, occupying the place of the stomach. The Lions and Hyaenas, again, as shown by Professor Boyd Dawkins, do not indicate necessarily a warm climate. Wherever a sufficiency of herbivorous animals to supply them with food can live, there they can live also; and they have therefore no special bearing upon the question of climate. After a review of the whole evidence, Professor Dawkins concludes that the nearest approach at the present day to the Post-Pliocene climate of Western Europe is to be found in the climate of the great Siberian plains which stretch from the Altai Mountains to the Frozen Sea. "Covered by impenetrable forests, for the most part of Birch, Poplar, Larch, and Pines, and low creeping dwarf Cedars, they present every gradation in climate from the temperate to that in which the cold is too severe to admit of the growth of trees, which decrease in size as the traveller advances northwards, and are replaced by the grey mosses and lichens that cover the low marshy 'tundras.' The maximum winter cold, registered by Admiral Von Wrangel at Nishne Kolymsk, on the banks of the Kolyma, is--65 in January. 'Then breathing becomes difficult; the Reindeer, that citizen of the Polar region, withdraws to the deepest thicket of the forest, and stands there motionless as if deprived of life;' and trees burst asunder with the cold. Throughout this area roam Elks, Black Bears, Foxes, Sables, and Wolves, that afford subsistence to the Jakutian and Tungusian fur-hunters. In the northern part countless herds of Reindeer, Elks, Foxes, and Wolverines make up for the poverty of vegetation by the rich abundance of animal life. 'Enormous flights of Swans, Geese, and Ducks arrive in the spring, and seek deserts where they may moult and build their nests in safety.

Ptarmigans run in troops amongst the bushes; little Snipes are busy along the brooks and in the mora.s.ses; the social Crows seek the neighbourhood of new habitations; and when the sun s.h.i.+nes in spring, one may even sometimes hear the cheerful note of the Finch, and in autumn that of the Thrush.' Throughout this region of woods, a hardy, middle-sized breed of horses lives under the masters.h.i.+p and care of man, and is eminently adapted to bear the severity of the climate.... The only limit to their northern range is the difficulty of obtaining food. The severity of the winter through the southern portion of this vast wooded area is almost compensated for by the summer heat and its marvellous effect on vegetation."--(Dawkins, 'Monograph of Pleistocene Mammalia.')

Finally, a few words must be said as to the occurrence of the remains of Man in Post-Pliocene deposits. That Man existed in Western Europe and in Britain during the Post-Pliocene period, is placed beyond a doubt by the occurrence of his bones in deposits of this age, along with the much more frequent occurrence of implements of human manufacture. At what precise point of time during the Post-Pliocene period he first made his appearance is still a matter of conjecture. Recent researches would render it probable that the early inhabitants of Britain and Western Europe were witnesses of the stupendous phenomena of the Glacial period; but this cannot be said to have been demonstrated. That Man existed in these regions during the Post-Glacial division of Post-Pliocene time cannot be doubted for a moment. As to the physical peculiarities of the ancient races that lived with the Mammoth and the Woolly Rhinoceros, little is known compared with what we may some day hope to know. Such information as we have, however, based princ.i.p.ally on the skulls of the Engis, Neanderthal, Cro-Magnon, and Bruniquel caverns, would lead to the conclusion that Post-Pliocene Man was in no respect inferior in his organisation to, or less highly developed than, many existing races. All the known skulls of this period, with the single exception of the Neanderthal cranium, are in all respects average and normal in their characters; and even the Neanderthal skull possessed a cubic capacity at least equal to that of some existing races.

The implements of Post-Pliocene Man are exclusively of stone or bone; and the former are invariably of rude shape and _undressed_.

These "palaeolithic" tools (Gr. _palaios_; ancient; _lithos_, stone) point to a very early condition of the arts; since the men of the earlier portion of the Recent period, though likewise unacquainted with the metals, were in the habit of polis.h.i.+ng or dressing the stone implements which they fabricated.

It is impossible here to enter further into this subject; and it would be useless to do so without entering as well into a consideration of the human remains of the Recent period--a period which lies outside the province of the present work. So far as Post-Pliocene Man is concerned, the chief points which the palaeontological student has to remember have been elsewhere summarised by the author as follows:--

1. Man unquestionably existed during the later portion of what Sir Charles Lyell has termed the "Post-Pliocene" period. In other words, Man's existence dates back to a time when several remarkable Mammals, previously mentioned, had not yet become extinct; but he does not date back to a time anterior to the present _Molluscan_ fauna.

2. The antiquity of the so-called Post-Pliocene period is a matter which must be mainly settled by the evidence of Geology proper, and need not be discussed here.

3. The extinct Mammals with which man coexisted in Western Europe are mostly of large size, the most important being the Mammoth (_Elephas primogenius_), the Woolly Rhinoceros (_Rhinoceros tichorhinus_), the Cave-lion (_Felis speloea_), the Cave-hyaena(_Hyoena speloea), and the Cave-bear (_Ursus speloeus_). We do not know the causes which led to the extinction of these Mammals; but we know that hardly any Mammalian species has become extinct during the historical period.

4. The extinct Mammals with which man coexisted are referable in many cases to species which presumably required a very different climate to that now prevailing in Western Europe. How long a period, however, has been consumed in the bringing about of the climatic changes thus indicated, we have no means of calculating with any approach to accuracy.

5. Some of the deposits in which the remains of man have been found a.s.sociated with the bones of extinct Mammals, are such as to show incontestably that great changes in the physical geography and surface-configuration of Western Europe have taken place since the period of their acc.u.mulation. We have, however, no means at present of judging of the lapse of time thus indicated except by a.n.a.logies and comparisons which may be disputed.

6. The human implements which are a.s.sociated with the remains of extinct Mammals, themselves bear evidence of an exceedingly barbarous condition of the human species. Post-Pliocene or "Palaeolithic" Man was clearly unacquainted with the use of any of the metals. Not only so, but the workmans.h.i.+p of these ancient races was much inferior to that of the later tribes, who were also ignorant of the metals, and who also used nothing but weapons and tools of stone, bone, &c.

7. Lastly, it is only with the human remains of the Post-Pliocene period that the palaeontologist proper has to deal. When we enter the "Recent" period, in which the remains of Man are a.s.sociated with those of _existing species of Mammals_, we pa.s.s out of the region of pure palaeontology into the domain of the Archaeologist and the Ethnologist.

LITERATURE.

The following are some of the princ.i.p.al works and memoirs to which the student may refer for information as to the Post-Pliocene deposits and the remains which they contain, as well as to the primitive races of mankind:--

(1) 'Elements of Geology.' Lyell.

(2) 'Antiquity of Man.' Lyell.

(3) 'Palaeontological Memoirs.' Falconer.

(4) 'The Great Ice-age.' James Geikie.

(5) 'Manual of Palaeontology.' Owen.

(6) 'British Fossil Mammals and Birds.' Owen.

(7) 'Cave-Hunting.' Boyd Dawkins.

(8) 'Prehistoric Times.' Lubbock.

(9) 'Ancient Stone Implements.' Evans.

(10) 'Prehistoric Man.' Daniel Wilson.

(11) 'Prehistoric Races of the United States.' Foster.

(12) 'Manual of Geology.' Dana.

(13) 'Monograph of Pleistocene Mammalia' (Palaeontographical Society). Boyd Dawkins and Sanford.

(14) 'Monograph of the Post-Tertiary Entomostraca of Scotland, &c., with an Introduction on the Post-Tertiary Deposits of Scotland'

(Ibid.) G. S. Brady, H. W. Crosskey, and D. Robertson.

(15) "Reports on Kent's Cavern"--'British a.s.sociation Reports.'

Pengelly.

(16) "Reports on the Victoria Cavern, Settle"--'British a.s.sociation Reports.' Tiddeman.

(17) 'Oss.e.m.e.ns Fossiles.' Cuvier.

(18) 'Reliquiae Diluvianae.' Buckland.

(19) "Fossil Mammalia"--'Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle.'

Owen.

(20) 'Description of the Tooth and Part of the Skeleton of the _Glyptodon_.' Owen.

(21) "Memoir on the Extinct Sloth Tribe of North America"--'Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge.' Leidy.

(22) "Report on Extinct Mammals of Australia"--'British a.s.sociation,'

1844. Owen.

(23) 'Description of the Skeleton of an Extinct Gigantic Sloth (_Mylodon robtutus_).' Owen.

(24) "Affinities and Probable Habits of Thylacoleo"--'Quart. Journ.

Geol. Soc.,' vol. xxiv. Flower.

(25) 'Prodromus of the Palaeontology of Victoria.' M'Coy.

(26) 'Les Oss.e.m.e.ns Fossiles des Cavernes de Liege.' Schmerling.

(27) 'Die Fauna der Pfahlbauten in der Schweiz.' Rutimeyer.

(28) "Extinct and Existing Bovine Animals of Scandinavia"--'Annals of Natural History,' ser. 2, vol. iv., 1849. Nilsson.

(29) 'Man's Place in Nature.' Huxley.

(30) 'Les Temps Antehistoriques en Belgique.' Dupont.

(31) "Cla.s.sification of the Pleistocene Strata of Britain and the Continent"--'Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.,' vol. xxviii. Boyd Dawkins.

(32) 'Distribution of the Post-Glacial Mammalia' (Ibid.), vol. xxv.

Boyd Dawkins.

(33) 'On British Fossil Oxen' (Ibid.), vols. xxii. and xxiii. Boyd Dawkins.

(34) 'British Prehistoric Mammals' (Congress of Prehistoric Archaeology, 1868). Boyd Dawkins.

(35) 'Reliquiae Aquitanicae.' Lartet and Christy.

(36) 'Zoologie et Paleontologie Francaises.' Gervais.

(37) 'Notes on the Post-Pliocene Geology of Canada.' Dawson.

(38) "On the Connection between the existing Fauna and Flora of Great Britain and certain Geological Changes"--'Mem. Geol.

Survey.' Edward Forbes.

(39) 'Cavern-Researches.' M'Enery. Edited by Vivian.

(40) "Quaternary Gravels"--'Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.,' vol. xxv.

Tylor.