469 



Nachdruck verboten. 



A Contribution to the Development of the Skeleton of the Lion. 



By 0. Charnock Bradley, M. B., D, Sc, 



Royal Veterinary College, Edinburgh. 



With 13 Figures. 



Facts relative to the post-natal development of the skeleton of 

 wild animals being scanty, and the occurrence of opportunities for 

 observation being few, it is considered that the condition of the bones 

 of two young lions of known age is worthy of being recorded. The 

 two animals were within a few months of the same age; which cir- 

 cumstance, from the point of view of corroboration, lends value to 

 the information gained by their examination. Though the amount of 

 available material is unquestionably scanty, it does not appear to be 

 wise to withhold the results of the observations in the hope that more 

 may be forthcoming, since it is very unlikely that additional skeletons 

 of young animals will be procurable within a reasonable time. It may 

 be that others have made a similarly limited number of observations, 

 which, when added to the present communication, may form a con- 

 siderable addition to our knowledge of the development of the skeleton 

 in the Felidse. 



The younger lion — to be spoken of for convenience as No. 1 — 

 was aged two years and five months; the older — No. 2 — was two 

 years and eighty months old. Although, in the main, the skeleton in both 

 cases was similar, there were certain secondary points of difference to 

 which attention will be directed. 



Cervical vertebrae. The ossification of the atlas is prac- 

 tically complete, the only cartilaginous remains being in the form of 

 a very narrow margin to the wings. The development of the axis 

 is so far advanced that only the caudal epiphysis of the centrum is 

 distinct and separable. 



In all the other cervical vertebrae both cephalic and caudal epi- 

 physes are incompletely ossified. Of these, all the caudal are easily 

 removable, there being no indication of the onset of fusion between 

 them and their respective centra. The cephalic epiphyses, however, 



