992 THE JOHN DAY FAUNA. 



Restoration. — This was a most formidable animal, and its dental char- 

 acters indicate a high degree of efficiency of both the lacerative and of the 

 biting fnnctions. While the P. platycopis has a larger development of the 

 canine teeth, it is inferior in the relative size of the sectorials. In the latter 

 respect the P. hrachyops resembles the species of Nimravus and ArchceluruSf 

 but these are furnished with smaller or more slender canines. It, however^ 

 resembled the latter in having the feet relativelj'" smaller than in the recent 

 cats, a character which indicates inferior prehensile power. Unfortunately^ 

 no ungual phalanges have been preserved, so that we cannot learn whether 

 they confirm this indication by resembling those of the Cynceluriis jv.batus 

 or the still less specialized forms of other families. 



History. — This species was the first of the Oregon felines of which bones 

 were obtained. It was first sent here by Mr. C. H. Sternberg, from the 

 Miocene bad lands of the John Day Valley, Oregon. 



HOPLOPHONEUS Cope. 



Annual Report U. S. Geol. Survey Territories, F. V. Haydeu, 1873 (1874), p. 509. Proceedings Acad- 

 emy Philadolphia, 1879, p. 170. 



q 1 5 *> 1 



Dental formula : I.-; C. -; Pm. — -; M. -. Inferior border of man- 

 3 1 2 1 



dible flared downwards in front for the protection of the large double-edged 

 superior canine tooth. Lateral and anterior faces of ramus sharply distin- 

 guished. Incisors Avith wedge-shaped or conic crowns. Superior sec- 

 toi'ial without anterior basal lobe ; inferior sectorial with a heel. No infe- 

 rio)' tubercular molar. 



The original diagnosis of this genus includes the ascription of a tuber- 

 cular molar to the inferior dental series, which is an error due to the refer- 

 ence of a specimen to the H. oreodontis which does not belong to it. 



In this genus we reach the dental formula of Drepanodon and the true 

 cats, while at the same time the primitive form of the sectorials of the lower 

 jaw remains. I have not been able to examine the skull of a Drepanodon 

 (Machcerodus), but from the silence of European authors it may be pre- 

 sumed that the foramina which characterize the Nimravidce are absent, as- 

 in the true cats. The fact that the species have been derived from the 



