686 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



into complexes, and also the evolution of the particular patterns. His 

 data are utilised in relation to the phytogeny of the various groups of 

 primates. 



Evolution of Mammals.* — Charles Deperet returns to his point, in 

 answer to Boule's critique that the alleged pedigrees of Ursidse and 

 Equidas lack reality. He was himself led astray by regarding similar 

 functional adaptations as proofs of filiation, but he has rid himself of 

 this fallacy. " Palseontological evolution has to become the history of 

 what did really occur in the past, and not of what might have occurred." 

 The difficulty is to achieve this desirable end. 



Skull of Echidna and Reptiles.f — E. Gaupp has made a study of the 

 development of this skull. The following amongst other interesting facts 

 appear to be made out. The pterygoids of Echidna show very marked 

 agreements with those of reptiles ; there are special similarities to the 

 posterior sections of turtle pterygoids. The view that these bones are 

 homologous receives support, while on the other hand the similarity 

 which the turtle pterygoid shows with the so-called mammalian ptery- 

 goid cannot be taken as evidence of a like homology. The mammalian 

 pterygoid is referable to the parasphenoid of the lower vertebrates, and 

 retains in its place at the base of the skull a very ancient characteristic. 

 The turtle pterygoid has reachedthe same position by extension from the 

 side in a quite secondary manner. The parasphenoid as a rule blends 

 early with the basi-sphenoid ; a like tendency to fusion with the 

 sphenoidal elements can be recognised in the parasphenoid lamellae of 

 many mammals. 



New Squirrel from Burma. J — Oldfield Thomas describes Sciurus 

 haringtoni, sp. n., from the Upper Chindwin River, a very peculiar 

 squirrel of a pale creamy-buff colour with whitish tail and without the 

 small upper premolar present in all other known oriental squirrels. 



Notes on Skull of a Lion.§ — 0. Charnock Bradley describes several 

 peculiarities in the skull of a young lion, the significance of which is 

 discussed. The skull in question possessed an ossicle, roughly triangular 

 in shape, situated between the lachrymal, frontal, and maxillary bones. 

 Such an " ossiculum maxillo-frontale," it appears from the cases cited, is 

 of widespread occurrence amongst mammals. Other features of this 

 skull are the presence of a pair of asymmetrical accessory nasal bones ; 

 and on the right side, a sutural bone between the intermaxillary and 

 superior maxillary bones on the margin of the alveolus for the canine 

 tooth. The author thinks the presence of this bone is to be associated 

 with the large size of the canine tooth. 



i &* 



Innervation and Development of Tactile Feathers. || — Ernst Kuster 

 finds that the main innervation of tactile feathers, or vibrissas, is by 

 touch-corpuscles ; the nerve entering the papilla has only a vasomotor 



* Comptes Rendus, cxli. (1905) pp. 22-3. 



t Anat. Anzeig., xxvii.,(1905) pp. 273-310. 



X Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., No. 93 (1905) pp. 314-15. 



§ Anat. Anzeig., xxvii. (1905) pp. 317-23. 



|| Morphol. Jahrb., xxxiv. (1905) pp. 126-48 (4 pis.) 



