Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-04-30
EXTINCT CATS AND DOGS.
Curious Feline and Canine Creatures which
Used to Live.

EXTINCT CATS AND DOGS.
Curious Feline and Canine Creatures which
Used to Live.
'Thers used TO be cats in North America
100000 years ago." said paleon.ologist to q
writer for the STAR "Grcat carnivorous crea-
lures Of the feline tribe roamed over this eoun
try then In enormous numbers. They are al
extinct and have left only their bones behind
to Veil the story Of how they lived and what
they fed upon. One often reads OF the art by
which the naturalist lie able to restore the skele-
ton OF an animal from q single bone, and in fac.
good many mistakes have been made through
over-confdenoe on the part of learned gentle
men IN reconstsuctng fossils by theory from
insufficient material. But there is no po.sibi.ity
OF nistaking the testimony afforded by the
teeth They tell all about the manner OF eN-
istenee led by their former owner giving ac-
cursseiy the habits, dios and approxiTaats age
Thus it Is very fortunate that teeth las.
longer than any other objects in nature. At
this day are found IN q perfect state @, pre-
servation the nolars and incisors which were
ussd TO CHEW with by the mighty reptiles OF
millions OF years ago. IL is from his dentition
that science declares man to be carn;yorous
only by habit and not by nature. spoke of
that the other day 70 a Young man in search of
information who replied impolitely: so is a
that he said that the dentition Of a hen would
certainly not indicate that il was caruirorous
by nature, and yet il evidently was So Judging
from Its addiction to worms and preference for
Flesh In general. However. rs 1 was going TO
remark. the piercing and cutting teeth Of some
OF these cats Of long ago the most perfectly
adapted instruments for cutting purposes that
ever were seen, being usequaicd by any manu-
featured tools tor such uses.
"For example, there was the 'gomphoius'
which a. biC tho LARGEST 4
had two tceth in lis upper jaw resembling dag
gers, each live inches in length. As weapons
for penetrating flesh they are unrivaled among
carnivorous animals recent or extinct They
| are rather like the teeth of some huge flesh
eating dinosaurs. the terrible reptiles of the
mesozoic epoch, which had cutting teeth that
| nothing could resist Doubtless this creature
was inconceivably blood:brsty. Quite as
| fierce, however, and even more formidable bv
reason OF ats greater size was the contemporary
| pogonodon. which was as large as tho biggest
laguar. There were two species OF this ami
NAL which held the field in Oregon during the
period speak Of against all rivals Ii was I'M
doubtedly a great destroyer Of life among the
herbivorors beasts
'Our knowledge Of one Of these species Is
due TO q very fortunate chance. Some years
| ago an exploring party was sent into the John
Day River valley In Oregon for the purpose of
looking for fossils. That Is a famous region
| for such treasures. water having cut big slice.
| out of hills, which were formed originally by
detritus deposited during myriads Of years
| IL happened that the attention Of one member
| OF the expedition WAS attracted by something
that looked like skull. half projecting from
| the summit Of the pinnacle of a crag 1t was
| IN fact skull, and the shining OF the great
teeth was what caught his eve. He climbed
| up the cliff and fetched IL down with much
difficulty and danger to life and limb. Itwa
the Uranium of a once formidable pogonodon
During this same epoch there were nu-
merous other species Of cats, all of them since
extinct, which varied in size all the way from
that of q household pussy OF today to the huge
aber-toothed tiger. Not few of them were
astonishiagl. fierce and eorrespondingly de-
structive. Tho teeth they have left behind tell
the story OF the way they lived, describing as
well as words could do it, their extreme
| ferocity. They attained the climax OF their
| type in the sabcr-toothec tigers bigger than
| either the hon or the tiger Of today which had
CANNES foot in length and shaped like curved
knives with saw-like edges. They roamed the
continent in the time Of the gigantic sloths
| such az the megatheria, and doubtless did
| much TO extsrrliaate the latter helpless snd
vegetable-eating beasts. They were plentiful in
Texas, where the remains of good many have
been dug up.
'Unfortunately for them the specialization
OF function was carried 80 far in their case as
to be the means of their destruction. No: only
we're these exaggerated teeth useless for biting
purposes, but they could no. be used TO cut
with unless the animals jaws were closed
Besides, they were SO in the way as to prevent
the beast from biting of large pieces Of flesh
thas interfering with Its feeding. There is
reason to believe that sometimes these "a Der
teeth got caught On the CANNES in the lower
jaw in such . manner as to hold the mouth
vide open and prevent il from being shut again.
thus causing starvation. One magnificent
| skull Was folnd in South America not long ago
| which had the teeth thus caught. showing
that the owner must have persisted from
TINS cause. Ii IS interesting to consider the
fact that these ssber-s oothed tigers
like the cave bears, which we're twice as heavy
as grizzlies and probably quite ferocious-
we're contemporary with human beings on the
earth, and the latter we're obliged to fight
them. Their bones are found in considerable
| numbers in the caves OF southern France.
which were the residences of primeyal men
and women in the ancient stone age 100 600
years and more ago. People in those times
must have regarded all other creatures as be-
| ing roughly divided into two classes-those
| which they could eat and those which could
cat them. The ssber-toothed tiger belonged
70 sota classes. tho issue Of the conflict in each
case determining which should gobkle the
| other. With none bat the most primitive
weapons, q man must have had but a poor
chance ia conflict with such a terrible beast.
bat probably he depended for overcoming il
upon strategem, being acquainted with some
sors OF 6aps and snares. The carvings on
| bone left behind by these ancient folk fire.
quently represent the chase Of the mammoth.
| showing that they did net hesitate 70 tackle
even SO enormous a creature
"During the period when these wonderful
| eats were 50 plentiful in North America there
we're numerous dogs and dog-like beasts also.
all Of which have since become extinct. The
biggest species was as large as o good-sized
bear. In that part of the country which is
new called Colorado and Dakota there were
several kinds Of dog-like animals about the
size Of foxes, which were nocturnal in their
habits, having very large eyes with which 70
see In the nighttime. They had great ears
also and short. sharp noses All these things
can be told from their skulls There was a
hinge species OF true dog In Nebraska, but COM
parattvely little ID known about IT, because
only very incomplete remains have been dis
covered lp 10 the present time. Another true
dog was the 'slaredon,' which had some of the
characteristics Of the cat Ii was abundant in
Nebraska, had powerful crushing teeth, and is
supposed to have been the ancestor OF the
hyenas Of today. Probably il was Q scavenger
in it, habits, devourng the bodies Of the an
tslopes and small camels which then browsed
nunerously on the plains and in the valleys of
this country"
Far-keschfng Rise Bullsts.
From tie London Nsva
Commenting on the penetrative powers Of
~ n A1