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.
[Illustration: 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.
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