OCR Text |
Show 28 MR.W. II. 1- LOWER ON THE [Jan. 14, placed by Dr. Gray, in his " Revision of the Viverridce" (P. Z. S. 1864) close to the genus Viverra. De Blainville included it in the eenus!Canis, where it is also placed, in the Catalogue of the Osteological Series in the Museum of the College of Surgeons, by Professor Owen Many other authors have placed it in the Hyeemdce, as JJr. Gray in 1868 (P. Z. S. p. 525). The visceral anatomy of this animal appears at present to be quite unknown ; and the rudimentary molar teeth afford no indication of its affinities. Both in external appearance and in the general characters of the skeleton it closely resembles the Hyaenas*. . . , . ., The examination of the base of the cranium in this genus is therefore of great interest, as it affords in the present state of our knowledge the only true guide to its position. Its characters (see fig. 14) are as follows:- The auditory bulla is very large, pyriform, and everted posteriorly, almost exactly as in the larger forms of Herpestes. A septum divides it into two chambers, the meatal or true tympanic chamber being quite in front of the other ; externally the two are completely fused. Fig. 14. car. Proteles lalandii. From a specimen in the British Museum. (The letters as in the preceding figures.) * The Skeleton of Proteles in the Leyden Museum has 15 rib-bearing vertebrae: Wagner gives 14. |