CREODJNTA. 253 



The characters now adduced lead to the following conclusions as to 

 the systematic position of these animals. 



The small size of the cerebral hemispheres and the rare occurrence 

 of convolutions, refer this group to the Lissencephalous or Lyencephalous 

 Mammalia. The characters presented by our crania are borne out by those 

 exhibited by the Ardocyon j)rimcevus, De Blainv., from the Lower Eocene 

 or Suessonian beds of France. Professor Gervais* has discovered that the 

 olfactory lobes are large, and project far beyond the hemispheres, while 

 not onl}' the cerebellum but also probably the corpora quadrigemina were 

 exposed behind. We are therefore restricted, early in the inquiry, to com- 

 parisons with a few orders. These are the Insedivora, Marsupialia, and 

 some of the Prosimioi, which have small brains. Other characters, however, 

 exist, Avhich add to the reasons for separating them from the Carnivora. 



There is nothing in the dentition inconsistent with the orders Carnivora,. 

 Insedivora, and Marsupialia. It resembles that of some Viverridce of the 

 first, MytJiomys of the second, and the Sarcophaga oi the third. Neverthe- 

 less, in the often limited number of incisor teeth, it approaches most nearly 

 to the Insedivora. 



The transverse glenoid cavity is that of the three orders named, and 

 distinguishes the group from the Rodentia. 



So far as known, the coossification of the scaphoid and lunar bones, the 

 distinguishing character of the Carnivora, i.s wanting. The angulate shape 

 of the ilium is that of Insedivora and Marsupialia. It is less apparent in 

 Chiroviys, and is not characteristic of the higher Mammalia. The large 

 anterior inferior tuberosity is especially a character of the Lemurs, other 

 than Nydicebinoi (Mivart),t the Chiromys, and of certain Insedivora, 

 especiall}^ Solenodon. It is figured by Mivart in Indris and Loris, by Owen 

 in Chiromys,X and by Peters in Solenodon.§ It is absent in Carnivora, the 

 true Quadrumana, Marsupialia, and many Insedivora. Allman || does not 

 represent it in Mythomys. The third trochanter of the femur is wanting in 



* Nouvelles Archives du Museum, 1870, p. 150. 

 tin a memoir in the Philosophical Trausactions, vi, p. 421. 

 { Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, v, pi. xxi. 



J Abhandlungeu der kiiuiglichen Academie der Wissenschaften, 1863, pi. 3, Ueber Solenodon 

 cubanus. 



II Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, vi, pi. -2, On (Poiamogale) Mythomys velox. 



