1010.] Ostcoluyy of Soloiodan. 241 



bedeutend iiberschatzt," and "Dass keine naheren gcncologischen Bezic- 

 hungen zu deii Talpidtie bestehea . . . . darf wohl als ausgemacht gelten." 

 Leche shows (pp. 144-145) that Solenodon is allied to the Centetidse by the 

 possession of a number of characters, including the following: (1) fibula 

 articulating solely with the astragalus; (2) fibula free from tibia; (3) 

 several peculiarities in the musculature; (4) the characters of the denti- 

 tion — which may readily be derived from those in Mlcrogale of the Cente- 

 tidse. The molars have the internal basal ledge produced into two small 

 cusps. 



As will be shown below the specializations of Solenodon include no feature 

 that is inconsistent with derivation from a Zalambdodont ancestor. Thus 

 the peculiar groove on I2 is feebly represented in Microgale, Potamogalr, 

 Chrysochloris and Scalops (Leche). The analogies with Myogale in the 

 skull are of very superficial character (see below, page 242) and relate chiefly 

 to the interorbital constriction, the transversely expanded mandibular 

 condyle, the enlargement of the anterior upper incisors and the round topped 

 premolars. 



Notes oil tJie Comparative Osteology of Solenodon paradoxus. 



The osteology of Solenodon cubanus and of the rarer S. paradoxus has 

 been described by various authors, including Brandt, Peters, Mivart (1878, 

 p. 123), Dobson (1883), Leche (1907), and Allen (1908). Through the 

 courtesy of Dr. J. A. Allen the writer is enabled to supplement these de- 

 scriptions and to review the evidence bearing on the relationship of the 

 Solenodontidte to the Centetidse, and, more remotely, to the early Tertiary 

 Leptictidae. The observations on these problems may, it is hoped, contrib- 

 ute to the general question of the relationship of the Insectivora to the 

 INIarsupials and Placentals (p. 299). The officials of the United States 

 National Museum have courteously loaned a skeleton of Microgale dobsoni 

 and a skull of Pofamogale velox which are also referred to in the following 

 notes. 



The material at hand includes three skeletons, one of a young individual 

 (Amer. Mus. No. 28272) which shows well the sutures and limits of the 

 bones. The skull of an adult female (No. 28271) has been sectioned in the 

 median line and afl'ords valuable morphological details. 



The dentition and mode of dental replacement, having been so fully 

 described by Leche (1907) and Allen (1909), call only for the remark that 

 they reveal no special Marsupial resemblances but are, on the contrary, very 

 typically Placental, and, more particularly, Zalambdodont, in character. 

 The question of the homology of the molar cusps is referred to below (p. 290). 



