154 



BULLETIN OF THE 



tidcB. The femur is rather long and slender, and has a distinct third trochanter, 

 which is also to be seen in Crijptoprocta, Dinidis, Frocelurus, and Amphicyon, 

 and is probably an inheritance from their creodont ancestry. In. appear- 

 ance the femur of Hoplophoneus closely resembles 

 that of Procelurus as figured by Filhol.* The tibia 

 is stout, laterally compressed, and curved forward ; 

 the distal end is broad, and not very deeply grooved, 

 and witli heavy malleolus. The fibula has a slen- 

 der shaft and expanded distal end. The tarsus is 

 feline, but with some differences ; the astragalus is 

 more flattened than in the true cats, and the calca- 

 neum has the arctoid character of a conical process 

 on the outer sfde near the distal end (found also in 

 Amphicyon, Procelurus, and Dinidis). The meta- 

 tarsals, five in number, are slender and weak ; the 

 three external ones are strongly interlocked, as in 

 the cats. 



Restoration (see Plate I.). — This animal had a 

 very striking appearance, with its short rounded head 

 and exceedingly long and trenchant canine tusks ; 

 the neck is long, the trunk, especially the lumbar 

 region, is short as compared with Cryptoproda ; the 

 tail is very long, as in nearly all of the early flesh- 

 eaters ; the limbs were stout, the feet on the con- 

 trary very weak, as in the creodonts. The struc- 

 ture of the foot renders it all but certain that this 

 animal was digitigrade, though some features of its 

 plantigrade ancestry, as the articulation of the as- 

 tragalus with the cuboid, are retained. H. primce- 

 vus was a small animal, standing hardly more than 



Figure 2. — Left hind foot 

 of Hoplophoneus, viewed 

 from in front. 



18 inches high and about 33 inches long, exclusive 

 of the tail. 



Hoplophoneus occidentalis, Leidy. This is a larger species, equalling 

 the puma in size, and with a more robust skeleton. 



ARTIODACTYLA. 

 OREODONTID^. 



Oreodon Culbertsoni, Leidy. This very common and well-known species 

 is represented by numerous skulls and parts of the skeleton. 



Oreodon gracilis, Leidy. Little has hitherto been known as to the 

 * Soc. So. Ph. et Nat. Tours, 1880, PI. V. fig. 3. 



