514 DE. C. I. FOESTTH MAJOR 0J\ 



inferred from its short ears, short hiud legs, and various skeletal characters, hut that it 

 is a specialized, offshoot from the genus Lepus itself "' *. 



My own views as to the significance of the characters of Romerolagus are about the 

 same as those with regard to Caprolagus. They are certainly of generic value, hy com- 

 parison with those generally assigned to the genus Lepus. But it does not follow that 

 Romerolagus can stand as a separate genus, or, to put it in a more general way, that 

 it occupies an isolated position compared with other Leporidae. I feel sure that if the 

 same care had been bestowed on the examination of the skeletons of some other Leporidae 

 near at hand, e. g. the aquatic Hares f, Hart Merriam would have arrived at the same 

 conclusion as I have. It will probably be possible to show hereafter that Romerolagus is 

 specialized in some respects, as might be anticipated from its habitat. The remarkable 

 shortness of the ears is presumably the combined result of inheritance and specialization. 

 The absence of the tail is certainly an acquired character, as it is in Lagomys. The 

 comjilete clavicle can scarcely be regarded in the same light ; hut, although I know of no 

 other member of the Leporida3 having a " complete " clavicle, Romerolagus does not, in 

 this respect either, occupy such an isolated position as the author seems to think. That 

 the skull is " thoroughly leporine " I cannot admit ; there are several cranial characters, 

 as will be shown, which are unusual in most Leporidae, but which Romerolagus shares 

 with Pahcolagus, with some recent Leporidae, and with the Lagomyidae, and which may 

 be I'egarded as ancestral. 



The whole of recent Leporidae may be divided into two groups, probably of higher 

 than generic dignity, which might conveniently be called : A. Caprolagus group, and 

 B. Lepus group. 



A. Caprolagus Group : — ■ 



1. Caprolagus: C. sivalensls, Maj.; C. valdaruei/sis (Weith.) ; C. hispidus 



(Pears.) (type.) 



2. Nesolagus (nom. nov.) : N. Netscheri (Schleg. & Jent.). 



3. Oryctolagus : O. cnnicultis (Linn.) ; O. crassicaudatus (GeoflFr.). 



4. Sylvilagns, comprising in this term : — 



a. Lhnnolagus (S. pialustris, aqualicus, &c.). 



b. Romerolagus (S. Kelson/', iMerr.). 



c. Tapetl [S. braslliensis, &c.). 



d. Sylcilagus (S. sylvaticus, &c.) 



The question whether 1-4 are to be considered as genera or subgenera is for the 

 present quite immaterial. Sylvilagus s. str. is the least primitive of this group, and 

 Oryctolagus stands somewhat apart. 



B. Lepus Group. — This group contains the one genus Lepus s. str., including all the 

 species not contained in group A. 



* Op. cit. p. 172. 



t This remark refers also to the limbs, although I do not know them from either. 



