32 2 Lloyd's natural history. 



tusk was formed by the canine tooth and not by the first tooth 

 of the premolar series. Still more different from any living 

 Lemur was the Oligocene Ada pis, first described from France, 

 and regarded as an Ungulate, but subsequently recognised 

 from the Hordwell beds. It differs from all modern Lemurs 

 in the presence of four pairs of pre-molar teeth in each jaw, 

 and one of the species attained a comparatively large size, its 

 skull measuring upwards of 4 inches in length. 



In Madagascar, Lemurs are now accompanied by many 

 kinds of Insectivores, and it is, therefore, not surprising to find 

 a member of that order in the Hordwell beds. This animal 

 {Necrogymnurd), instead of being allied to the Malagasy Insec- 

 tivores, appears, however, to have been related to the Gymnura 

 of Borneo, which may be described as a long-tailed Hedge- 

 hog without spines, and therefore somewhat Rat-like in general 

 appearance. Civets likewise form an important element in the 

 modern Malagasy Fauna, and the Hordwell Lemurs were ac- 

 companied by a member of that group assigned to the existing 

 African and Oriental genus Viverra, which includes the true 

 Civets. With the exception of the Opossums, this Civet is 

 the only terrestrial Mammal from the earlier British Tertiaries 

 which can be referred to a still living genus. The other early 

 British Carnivores belong to an extinct group known as the 

 Creodonts, which disappeared with the close of the Oligocene 

 Period. They differ from modern Carnivores in that all their 

 molar teeth were furnished with sharp cutting blades, instead 

 of a single pair of cheek-teeth in each jaw being specially 

 modified for cutting wnth a scissor-like action. In their denti- 

 tion these primitive Carnivores approximate, indeed, both to 

 the Insectivores and the Marsupials, and they are undoubtedly 

 far more generalised types than the existing members of the 

 order to which they belong. While some were not larger than 

 a Fox, others fully equalled the dimensions of the largest 

 Bears. In Britain they are represented by one genus [Hycetio- 



