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Show 1890.] Hind feet Tail Auditory "I bullae J Antorbital foramen Incisors .. Premolars SAIGA ANTELOPE F R O M PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS. 613 Dipus. Euchoreutes. Alactaga. Platycercomys. ... with 3 digits, with 5 digits, with 5 digits, with 5 digits. ... cylindrical cylindrical cylindrical flattened and and tufted. and tufted. and tufted. lancet-large. very large. moderate. shaped. } with a sepa- with a sepa- with no separate passag e rate passage rate passage for nerve. for nerve. for nerve. grooved. smooth. smooth. generally ab- Premolar pre- Premolar pre- No premolars. sent. sent above. sent above. In addition to these characters, Euchoreutes differs from all other forms of the Dipodidce which I have been able to examine in :- 1. Its long pig-like snout, which is accompanied by a corresponding development of the anterior part of the skull. 2. The very large size of the auditory bullae. 3. The interorbital constriction of the frontal bones. 4. The large size of the posterior palatine foramina. 5. The absence of the process on the lower jaw between the condyle and the angle. I have to thank Mr. Oldfield Thomas for assistance and advice when examining the specimens in the British Museum. 7. Note on the Occurrence of the Saiga Antelope in the Pleistocene Deposits of the Thames Valley. By A. SMITH WOODWARD, F.Z.S. [Eeceived November 4, 1890.] The extensive Western range of the Saiga Antelope (Saiga ta-tarica) during the Pleistocene Period has long been well known through the researches especially of French palaeontologists. Not only do its bones and teeth occur in considerable numbers in certain of the cave-deposits in the Departments of Vienne, Dordogne, Tarn-et- Gfaronne, and Haute-Garonne1, but at least one recognizable sketch of the head of the animal has been found upon an artificially incised bone, of the kind so often met with in the caverns where relics of human handiwork occur2. The Saiga thus inhabited Western Europe as late as the era of Palaeolithic man, and was doubtless one of the objects of his chase. Until the present time, however, no evidence of the occurrence of this animal in the British area has been discovered among the 1 Details are given by A. Gaudry, ' Materiaux pour l'Histoire des Temps Quaternaires,' fasc. ii. (1880), with four plates. 2 P. Gervais, Journ. de Zool. vol. ii. (1873), p. 229, woodcut. |
