Downloaded from http://jgslegacy.lyellcollection.org/ at UCLA on June 22, 2016 124 8ALYAI)OR CAI~I)ERO~I ON Tlt~ FOSSIL 7. 0~ the FossIL VERTEBI~.~.TA hitherto discovered in SrAI~. By Softer SA~VXDORCxxa)~.soN, Professor of Natural History in the Institute of Las Palmas. (Read November 22, 1876.) (Communicated by the President.) Tm~ fossil forms, like the riving, have their zoological geography more marked in proportion to the development of life upon our planet; and for this reason, even if there were no other, it becomes a duty on the part of those who devote themselves to this branch of science in Spain, to furnish all the aid possible towards an elucida- tion of the problems which present themselves to the inqlfirer, not- withstanding the tittle attention paid to our scientific literature throughout Europe, already deplored by the great geologist De Yer- nenil*. With respect to the subject of this paper, it is necessary to bear in mind that no catalogue has ever been made, even of the summary kind which we are about to present, and that our mate- rials have been collected from a large number of periodicals (Spanish, ]~nglish, French, and German), extending over a period of about thirty years. " The palseontology of our peninsula presents many interesting fea- tures in its relations to the natural conditions of the soil. For ex- ample, the migrations of quadrupeds, which have caused the for- mation, in the greater part of Europe, of deposits of remains at a considerable distance from each other, must have been difficult in the Peninsula from the most remote time, and this has given rise to certain peculiarities in our mammalian fauna. Except by continuity, even in recent time, with the African continent, how can we explain the discovery of the Hyce~a bmtn~ea, the leopard, the serval, the lynx, and the deer of Barbary in a cave at Gibraltar ? Other important results of these studies is the discover), in the cen~e of Spain of remains of the Sivatherium, well-marked, accord- ing to Dr. Falconer, and also of tIycenarctos, mentioned by Paul Gervaist, it having been previously generally believed that these Mammalia had never inhabited Europe, and were confined exclu- sively to Asia. The discovery of the types in question confirms the inductions which form the doctrine of modern science, and the theory of the uninterrupted development of organic beings, the Vertebrata be- ginning with fishes and Lab)Tinthodonts, and continuing with reptiles, birds, and Mammalia. It is also a confirmation in this part of the world of Owen's arrangement of the four classes of Mammalia. But it is well known that the importance of the stud)-of fossil Vertobrata is not limited to its pal~eontological and geological in- * Coup d'oeil sur la constitution gdologlque de pltmieurs provinces de l'F.apagne. Paris : 1852. t Bull. de la See. G~ol. de France, voI. x. Downloaded from http://jgslegacy.lyellcollection.org/ at UCLA on June 22, 2016 Vv,RT~Rs H~TH-~TO D~OV~-~ IN SP~N. 125 terest, but extends to the scientific investigation of the present zoolo- gical geography of this group. Whatever may be our opinion upon the theory of the specific centres which individual organic forms may have taken as their point of departure, it will always be of advantage to the student to find in every locality the prehistoric ancestors of its fauna; to use the comparison of Lye]], the connexion between the present and the fossil forms, particularly in the case of the Mammalia, is the same as that between the different dialects which proceed from one primitive language. It is no longer possible to doubt that a great number of the present forms of animal life havo bcen in existence since the beginning of the Quaternary formation, and that there has been an almost insensible transition from the fauna of that period to that of the present, it being nearly impos- sible to differentiate the pal~eontology of the two periods. This opinion has been supported by Owen in his work on British Mam- mals and Birds. From this point of view nothing can be more worthy of detailed investigation than the rich bone-deposits of Old Castile, which abound with remains of the present and immediately preceding races, and from which upwards of five hundred thousand arrobas (or quarters) of bones, some fossil, some recent, have been obtained for commercial purposes only. Among these bones have been dis- covered artificial objects, such as flint knives of the reindeer period, polished axes, and objects of metal. The investigations in Spain are important when viewed with reference to the subject of extinction of species, particularly those that were contemporary with man in the period termed by Lubbock PalceolitMc, and which is marked by the existence of animals that have since disappeared. Taking, for example, the Urus (Bos primi- genius), we have clear proofs of its having existed in the Peninsula until a very recent period---among them a philological proof in the name of Monsuri, applied to a small hill on the banks of the Tutus% It is also important to bear in mind that remains of the mammoth have been found in various parts of Spain--in the caverns of the Pyrenees, in the centre in Madrid, and in the south near the shores of the Mediterranean, a position further south than Rome, which has generally been considered the southern limit of the tract in in which the bones of this animal are found. The same may be said of the t~hinoceros tichorhinus, which has, without doubt, been dis- covered in two different places in the north of the Peninsula. To sum up the results of the investigations made among the fossil Yertebrata in Spain, we may mention that they are not represented until we come to the Carbondferous formations (where we have found impressions of fishes having the tail heterocercal), in coal- shales in the province of Leon, together with many impressions of ferns, which have been carefully studied t. Consequently no~' * See my ' Resefia geologica de la provincia de Guadalajara,' lVladrid, 1874. t Areitio, "Materiales pare la flora fosil Espa~ola," Ann. de la Soc. t~spafi, de Hist. Nat. t. it. 1873. Downloaded from http://jgslegacy.lyellcollection.org/ at UCLA on June 22, 2016 126 SALVADOR CALDERON ON THE FOSSIL remainZ of this Clmm~ have been found either in .tim.~an or in- the Devonian, which contain such abundance of them in other localities. The Trias is almost barren of fossils throughout the Peninsula; and the Permian probably does not exist there at all ~ We have but little information respecting the Jurassic ; and all the data re- ferring to the rest of the Secondary period are still more defective; but it must be borne in mind that in general the information re- specting the vertebrate fauna of the first epoch of that period, is everywhere as incomplete as that respecting the deposits which date their origin from it. The Tertiary formation, characterized by well marked generic and specific forms of Mammalia, is well represented in the Miocene formations of Spain, principally by Pachyderms, Ruminants, and Proboscidea ; but in the other members of this series we have to lament a great deficiency of data. No objects of flint have been found similar to those collected by the Abb~ Bourgeois, which gave rise to the supposition that man may have existed in the Tertiary period. It is only in modern times that the caverns of this country have been explored, thanks to the late Don Casiaao de Prado, who, in his memoir upon the geology of the province of Madrid, published an appendix containing a list of all the caverns of Spain known to him. The results obtained give reason to expect much from a detailed examination of these caverns throughout the Peninsula, as thero are some which date from different epochs of the Quaternary period. A cave near Oiiate, in Guipuzeoat, has recently been imperfectly explored, and a large number of remains of hyaena and bears have been found in a good state of preservation. Four specimens exist in Madrid, in the Museum of Natural History and in that of the Propagator Athenseum of Natural Sciences. Dr. Falconer$ has given us an account of the palveontological riches of the celebrated cavern of Gibraltar; and as this and the one above mentioned are situated at opposite extremes of the peninsula, we may reasonably conclude that all the caverns merit our interest. It is therefore unnecessary to enumerate many others equally curious. We now know that the principal characteristics of the singular quaternary fauna of the South of Europe are well represented in the soil of Spain by the presence of cave-bears and hyaenas, of the urns, the horse, and the antelopes; and we have no doubt that other species, which we are surprised to miss, will be, sooner or later, discovered to have been inhabitants of this peninsula. Discoveries of bones which have been made justify us in affirming the existence of man during the Quaternary period. For an account of the many discoveries of objects relating to his industries, we refer to the pub- llcations of Professor Vilanova w Vilanova, Manual de Geol. Madrid, 187l. t Ann. de la Soc. Espafi. de Hist. nat., t. ii. Actas. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxi. p. 364. w Origen, naturaleza y antigu~dad del hombre. Madrid, 1872. Downloaded from http://jgslegacy.lyellcollection.org/ at UCLA on June 22, 2016 VERTEBRATA HITHERTO DISCOVERED IN SPAIN. 127 The following Table will give an idea of the chronological distri- bution of the genera, more than sixty in number, and of the species, more than seventy, ff we include those which are not determined, and of which we have only mentioned the genera already discovered in the Spanish peninsula, and well determined.