Remains of this remarkable animal of the drift or gravel period
of this country have been found at Brentford and elsewhere near
London. Speaking of this animal, Professor Owen observes, that “it
is commonly supposed that the Lion, the Tiger, and the Jaguar are
animals peculiarly adapted to a tropical climate. The genus Felis (to
which these animals belong) is, however, represented by specimens
in high northern latitudes, and in all the intermediate countries
to the equator.” The chief condition necessary for the presence of
such animals is an abundance of the vegetable-feeding animals. It
is thus that the Indian tiger has been known to follow the herds of
antelope and deer in the lofty mountains of the Himalaya to the verge
of perpetual snow, and far into Siberia. “It need not, therefore,”
continues Professor Owen, “excite surprise that indications should
have been discovered in the fossil relics of the ancient mammalian
population of Europe of a large feline animal, the contemporary of the
mammoth, of the tichorrhine rhinoceros, of the great gigantic cave-bear
and hyæna, and the slayer of the oxen, deer, and equine quadrupeds that
so abounded during the same epoch.” The dimensions of this extinct
animal equal those of the largest African lion or Bengal tiger; and
some bones have been found which seem to imply that it had even more
powerful limbs and larger paws.