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Show III. 39 10 8*5 » • • 5 • •• 12 6 IV, 41 11 9 9 5 6 12 6*5 3 274 PROF. HUXLEY ON THE CRANIAL AND [Apr. 6, I. II. Length of basicranial axis 39 PHhA 9*7 10 r^l 8 8 Breadth „ 8-2 8*6 Length of ^ 5 5 Breadth „ 6 6 Length of __ 11 12 TO. 1 ,, _, 6 6 m. 2 ii 3 m. 3 This is made manifest by the comparison of the measurements the skulls I., II., in., iv. in the preceding Table (of which No. n. is from " North China," while the rest are Japanese) with those of Canis azaree (a) given in Table XIII. Nos. i. and n. are adult skulls having a narrow lyrate sagittal area, and curiously similar to Otocyon in the elongation of the jaws and the marked lobation of the mandible. The outer incisor above is separated from the ot hers by a distinct interval; and the bony palate extends for 2-5 millims. behind the level of the hindermost molars. No. in. is young, the permanent teeth not having completely emerged. The Japanese G. hodophylax, of which there is a fine specimen now living in the Gardens, appears to be simply a small form of Wolf; but in the absence of any accessible skulls of this form or of G. nippon, I refrain from giving any definite opinion about them. All the Asiatic Thooids, north of the Altai, appear to be mere varieties of G. lupus. But in the Altai range itself, in the upper basins of the Jenessei and the Lena, and as far eastward as the shores of the Sea of Ochotsk the Canis alpinus makes its appearance (Schrenck, I. c. pp. 48-50). This species, C. primcevus, C.dukhunensis, and C. sumatrensis been separated as a distinct genus, Cyon (Cuon, Hodgson), on account of the constant absence of ^ . They agree, not only in this respectl, but in the breadth of the jaws and, very generally, in a marked convexity of the facial line. In this respect they depart from the ordinary Wolves and Jackals in the opposite direction to some Wolves and to the majority of the domestic Dogs, in which this contour tends to become strongly concave. The following Table of the measurements of nine skulls shows the close affinity of the forms associated under Cyon :- 1 Van der Hoeven (I. c.) mentions that he found ~s present in one specimen of C. rutilans out of six examined. |