VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY IN 1912 5 



remains of the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus ursinus) on the 

 mainland in association with those of various extinct 

 marsupials. 



The latest of Dr. Stehlin's valuable contributions to our 

 knowledge of the extinct mammalian fauna of Switzerland 

 {Abh. schweiz. pal. Ges. vol. xxxviii. pp. 1 165-1298) relates to the 

 osteology and dentition of the lemuroid genus Adapis, of which 

 a new species is described. As the result of his studies, the 

 author confirms the opinion that Adapis should be included in 

 the Lemuroidea and that its affinities are probably nearer to the 

 Lemurince than to either the Indrisince or Chiromyince. The 

 genus cannot however be regarded as ancestral to any of 

 the existing or Pleistocene representatives of the group but 

 represents a completely extinct collateral branch. 



The cave-lion (Felis leo fossilis), as exemplified by remains 

 from the neighbourhood of Heidelberg, forms the subject of 

 a memoir by Mr. A. Wurm in the Jahrcsbcr. oberrhein. Geol. 

 Ges. ser. 2, 1912, pp. 77-102. 



Two other noteworthy papers on fossil Carnivora have 

 appeared during the year. In the first of these Prof. Sidney 

 Reynolds reviews the British Pleistocene Mustelidce in the 

 Palaeontographical Society's volume for 191 1, published in 

 February 1912. No new forms are described. 



In the second Dr. J. Merriam {Mem. Univ. California, vol. i. 

 No. 2) describes the skeletons and teeth of wolves and other 

 Canidce from the Pleistocene asphalt-beds of Rancho La Brea, 

 California. Many of these belong to the great extinct wolf for 

 which the late Prof. Leidy proposed the name of Canis dims ; 

 they serve to show that this species, although near akin to the 

 existing so-called timber-wolf, was bigger than any other known 

 member of the group, not even excluding the great black 

 Alaskan wolf (C. pambasileus). Two other species, C. milleri 

 and C. andersoni, are likewise regarded as extinct ; the former 

 being related to the timber-wolf, which is stated to present 

 certain resemblances to the coyote or prairie wolf. Yet other 

 kinds are regarded as representing extinct races of existing 

 American Canidce. 



In another article (Univ. California Pub., Bull. Dep. Geol. 

 vol. vii. pp. 37-46) the writer last mentioned records the 

 occurrence in the La Brea asphalt of bears referable to the 

 extinct genus Arctotherium and the modern Ursus, as well as of 



