102
EARLY MAN IN BRITAIN.
[CHAP. V.
lofty mountains overlooking the land connecting Asia Minor with Greece. When the present geographical and climatal conditions were brought about, the ibexes would naturally take refuge in the mountains, and in the long course of ages would be very likely to present those minute and unimportant varieties which are seen in wild isolated breeds. It must further be remarked, that although the ibex ranged as far south as Crete and the Atlas, the mountains of the former are covered with snow as late as the middle of June,[1] and the climate of the latter has been sufficiently severe in ancient times to allow of glaciers extending down their flanks to within 6000 feet of the present level of the Mediterranean. When Morocco and the Grecian archipelago were lifted high above the present level of the sea—not less, as I have pointed out in my work on Cave-hunting, than 2400 feet (400 fathoms)—the climate would be far more severe than it is at present, and the ice and snow probably formed snow-fields and glaciers like those of the high Alps.
Incoming Species now found in Hot Climates.
The animals passed under review in the above pages inhabit, as we have seen, the temperate and cold regions of Europe, Asia, and America. The next division which comes before us has its headquarters in hot climates. It consists of the
Porcupine ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
Lion ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
Leopard or Panther ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
African lynx ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
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- ↑ I saw the top of Mount Ida covered with deep snow in June 1875.
