NIMRAVID^. 955 



obliquely backwards. The front tympanic process is an obtuse tuberosity 

 whose anteroposterior diameter exceeds its longitudinal. The occipital 

 condyles are well separated below. The basioccipital is first flat below, 

 and is then divided by a delicate median keel. The latter soon terminates, 

 sending off a curved line to the anterior inner border of, each otic bulla. 

 The area on each side of the keel is divided into three shallow fossse and 

 an anterior plane. Anterior to the keel the base is plane, except a shallow 

 fossa on each side. The posterior margin of the palate is gently concave 

 to the line of the principal cusp of the superior sectorial. It is not so 

 deeply concave as in the panther. The otic buUje are large, as in existing 

 cats. 



The rami of the mandible are quite slender, in correspondence with 

 the character of the zygomata. The inferior border of the masseteric fossa, 

 though prominent, accompanies the inferior edge of the ramus for a short 

 distance only, and gives it little width. The symphyseal portion rises 

 abruptly from the rami ; it is narrower below than above, and is concave 

 in transverse section near the middle The angle which sejiarates the lat- 

 eral from the anterior face of the ramus is rounded, and is continuous with 

 the inferior border. This form is not seen in the species oi Fells, Uncia, and 

 Cyncelurus, and is a trace of the characteristic angle and flange of the saber- 

 tooths. The posterior angular process is straight, compressed, and acute, 

 and the condyle is quite narrow. The osseous tuberosity beneath the 

 inferior true molar teeth is a most peculiar feature. It looks as though the 

 external alveolar border had been greatly extended, and then folded down 

 and attached to the side of the ramus. Its free borders are a vertical and 

 a horizontal, which are connected by a rounded angle. The ascending 

 border passes into the base of the coronoid process by a roughened ridge. 

 The inferior border and external face are also slightly roughened. 



Foramina. — The incisive foramina are large. The / infraorhitale exterius 

 is especially large, and opens forwards. Its external border is thin, and is 

 convex in profile ; it is above the posterior edge of the last superior pre- 

 molar, when the skull is resting on a plane surface. The / opticum is 

 rather large, and occupies the position usual in existing cats. The / splie- 

 noorbitale is quite large, and is round. The / rotundum is smaller than the 



