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Show 260 DR. J. E. GRAY ON THE SKULLS OF THE FELIDAE. [Mar. 14, no one could make a mistake as to what it was, as the teeth are all those of the Cats (Felidce). The skulls of species of Felis which have the same system of colouring are not always alike: thus the skulls of Felis uncia, F. marmorata, and F. macrocelis, of Felis viverrina, F. bengalensis, and F. nepalensis, and of F. pardina and F. macroura are very different in form and structure. On the other hand, the skulls of the Lion, the Tiger, the Leopard, and the Jaguar are nearly similar in form and teeth, and chiefly to be distinguished by their size and other slight characters. Keyserling and Blasius have pointed out the differences in the skulls of the "Wild Cat and the Lynx of Europe. The characters mentioned are common to most of the species of the genera Felis and Lyncus; but Felis marmorata has a skull like that of the Lynxes; and the Chaus group, which have the pencilled ears of the Lynxes, but not their long legs, have a skull like that of the Domestic Cat. The Felis macrocelis has very long, rather compressed canine teeth in the upper and lower jaws. Its skull presents the nearest approach to those of the fossil Cats with very long sharp-edged canines, such as Felis cultridens of England, Germany, France, and Italy, F. megatherion and F. smilodon of Brazil. The latter has exceedingly long sword-like canines in the upper jaw. These animals form the genera Machairodus and Agnotherium of Kaup (see Blainville, Osteographie, Felis, t. 17 & 20). In most Felidce the orbits are furnished with an imperfect bony ring ; in F. viverrina, F. subrugosa, F. planiceps, and some other spotted Cats these orbits are complete even at an early age. The Domestic Cat has nocturnal eyes, with an elongated erect pupil, and this has been generally given as the character of the entire genus; but the Lion, Tiger, Leopard, and some of the other larger species have a round pupil, and do not, under any circumstances, ever contract their eyes into an erect linear shape; so they may be called diurnal eyes. The Domestic Cat, and the species of the genus that are known to have nocturnal eyes with linear erect pupils when contracted, have a very large eyeball and large orbits in the skull, while the eyeball and orbit of the skulls of the Lion and other Cats, which are known to have diurnal eyes, have a moderate-sized eyeball and orbit to the skulls. Observing that the Cats, which are well known to have vertical pupils, have large eyeballs and orbits in the skulls, I have taken it for granted that all Cats which have large orbits in the skull have vertical pupils. This is important, as we can observe the size of the orbit in museums, while the form of the pupil can only be observed in the living animal. The animals which have nocturnal eyes, generally have short small faces to the skulls; but the Felis viverrina, which certainly has nocturnal eyes, has a rather elongated nose to the skull. As regards the form of the pupil in the Felidce there is a great |
