278 



PROCEEDINGS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



stant parent species from which Z. hudsonius, with its remarkably high 

 coefficient for the ear, has separated. At any rate, in each genus, the 

 characters which mark the species have the highest mean coefficient. 



TABLE E. 



C. V. OF Measurements of Three Carnivora. 

 (Measured by the Author.) 



Length of nasal bones 



Length of frontals 



Length of snout, incisors to margin of palate . 



Total basal length 



Length from posterior nares to occipital foramen 

 Length of parietal and occipital bones . . . 



Length of tooth series 



Width between canines 



Width between maxillary bones 



Width of zygoma 



a 



0.050 

 0.038 

 0.039 

 0.028 

 0.024 

 0.030 

 0.044 

 0.041 

 0.045 

 0.049 



o 



■a 





0.054 

 0.056 

 0.062 

 0.054 

 0.058 

 0.046 

 0.050 

 0.055 

 0.040 

 0.054 



St 



0.039 

 0.031 

 0.033 

 0.029 

 0.026 

 0.027 

 0.024 

 0.045 

 0.028 

 0.044 



to . 



0.052 

 0.047 

 0.050 

 0.041 

 0.041 

 0.038 

 0.047 

 0.048 

 0.042 

 0.051 



O to 



c S 



0.048 

 0.041 

 0.045 

 0.037 

 0.036 

 0.034 

 0.039 

 0.047 

 0.038 

 0.049 



Table E gives the G. F.'s of ten dimensions of the skulls of the cat, 

 fox, and lynx. A comparison of the skulls of these three forms shows 

 that the representatives of the cat and dog families are very similar, ex- 

 cept for the length of the muzzle and the shape of the zygoma. A short 

 muzzle and a wide zygoma are characteristic of all the cats,* and nowhere 

 is the difference between the skulls more marked than in the length of 

 the nasal bones. Examination of Table E shows that it is in just these 

 dimensions — namely, those of the front part of the skull, the zygoma, 

 and especially the nasal bones — that individuals are most variable ; while, 

 on the other hand, the " total basal length " and the dimensions of the 

 back part of the skull, which are alike in the two families, give the 

 smallest coefficients of variability. 



* Flower (70), p. 142. 



