[Illustration: Fig. 251.--Molar tooth of _Elephas meridionalis_,
one-third of the natural size. Pliocene and Post-Pliocene.]
[Illustration: Fig. 252.--Molar tooth of _Elephas antiquus_,
one-third of the natural size. Pliocene and Post-Pliocene.]
Amongst the Pliocene _Carnivores_, we meet with true Bears (_Ursus
Arvernensis_), Hyaenas (such as _Hyoena Hipparionum_), and genuine
Lions (such as the _Felis angustus_ of North America); but the
most remarkable of the beasts of prey of this period is the great
"Sabre-toothed Tiger" (_Machairodus_), species of which existed
in the earlier Miocene, and survived to the later Post-Pliocene.
In this remarkable form we are presented with perhaps the most
highly carnivorous type of all known beasts of prey. Not only
are the jaws shorter in proportion even than those of the great
Cats of the present day, but the canine teeth (fig. 253) are
of enormous size, greatly flattened so as to assume the form
of a poignard, and having their margins finely serrated. A part
from the characters of the skull, the remainder of the skeleton,
so far as known, exhibits proofs that the Sabre-toothed Tiger
was extraordinarily muscular and powerful, and in the highest
degree adapted for a life of rapine. Species of _Machairodus_
must have been as large as the existing Lion; and the genus is
not only European, but is represented both in South America and
in India, so that the geographical range of these predaceous
beasts must have been very extensive.
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