VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY IN 1909 653 



the one worked by Messrs. Lartet and Christy. The latter 

 stratum is assigned to the Neanderthal period, but the skeleton, 

 from the evidence of associated implements, is identified with 

 the' earlier Acheuleen or St. Acheul epoch. An age of about 

 400,000 years is assigned to this deposit, which belongs to the 

 penultimate inter-Glacial epoch, the Le Moustier hunter, for 

 whom the name Homo mousteriensis hauseri has been proposed 

 by Prof. Klaatsch, representing the oldest known human 

 skeleton. Although greatly damaged when discovered, the 

 skull has been pieced together, and the bones of the skeleton 

 have been freed from matrix and placed in their proper positions. 

 The remains indicate a male between sixteen and eighteen years 

 of age. The limb-bones are relatively short and thick, the 

 cranial portion of the skull is receding and the jaws protrude, 

 after a fashion occasionally met with among modern Australians. 

 Associated with the ape-like muzzle is a powerful dentition, 

 the teeth having stouter roots and more distinct enamel-folds 

 than in any living race. Among other characters of the skull 

 may be mentioned the large size and wide separation of the 

 orbits, and the broad and deeply sunk root of the nasals, the 

 latter feature indicating a wide and flattened nose, with the 

 nostrils directed mainly forwards. A popular illustrated 

 account of this interesting discovery is given by Dr. L. Rein- 

 hardt in Naturwissenschaftliche Wochenschrift for May 23, 1909. 



Passing to the Carnivora, the first paper for mention is 

 one by Prof. S. H. Reynolds on the British Pleistocene Canidce, 

 issued among the Palaeontographical Society's Monographs 

 for 1909. The author, who includes the fox in the typical 

 genus Canis, apparently does not recognise subspecies, as he 

 makes no attempt to identify any of the early British remains 

 of the wolf with the various forms which have been named 

 by continental palaeontologists. The jaw on which the so- 

 called Lycaon anglicus was named by the present writer is 

 regarded by Prof. Reynolds as that of an aberrant wolf. 



From the Pleistocene asphalt-deposits of California Dr. 

 J. C. Merriam {Univ. Calif. Pub., Bull. Dep. Geol. vol. v. pp. 291-304) 

 has described the skull of a large cat regarded as representing 

 a local race of Felis atrox. Special interest attaches to the 

 discovery, owing to the fact that remains of Smilodon occur in 

 the same deposit, thus confirming the opinion that Felis and 

 Smilodon differed widely in habits. 



