1910.] Solenodon paradoxus: Pelvis and Hind Limb. 251 



malian character). Metacarpal III is .sli<i;litly lono;er than metacarpal IV. 

 The distal ends of the metacarpals and phalanges are transversely cylin- 

 drical. On the inferior surface there are very slight if any keels. The 

 paired metacarpal sesamoids are large, the ungues are large and compressed, 

 not fissured at the tips. 



The foregoing characters of the nianus of Solenodon suggest that the 

 very large claws are used for scraping and tearing and not for grasping, 

 and this is confirmed bv Mr. Verrill's notes (1007) on the living animal. 

 The manus of Solenodon accordingly appears to be modified away from 

 what the writer conceives as the primitive Placental type (p. 446) in a number 

 of characters: especially in the flattening of all the carpal facets, in the 

 relatively small size of the trapezoid, width and flattening of the magnum 

 superiorly, width of the lunar, relatively small size of the trapezoid, slight 

 reduction and non-divergence of digit I. Much more primitive characters 

 are retained in the manus of Ericulus nigrescens as figured by Mivart (1871, 

 pi. v., fig. 4). In this Zalambdodont the digits are short and divergent, the 

 thumb and trapezoid are large, all the carpal facets are more oblicjue, the 

 magnum is smaller and narrows superiorly, the lunar is deeper and much 

 narrower. 



The pelvh' of the young Solenodon pamdoxns is much like that of Micro- 

 gale, as figured by Leche (1907, p. 81). The ilium is a rounded bar, faintly 

 trihedral. The pelvis of an adult female (Amer. ]Mus. No. 28271) differs 

 markedly from one of the same species figured by Leche (1907, p. 82) in the 

 ventral view: instead of the long symphysis pubis being present, the opposite 

 ossa innominata are widely separated in the dried skeleton and the symphy- 

 seal region of the pubis ends in a point, as in Erinacens. The pelvis, in its 

 broader features, compares well with that of Erinacens. The os cotylare, 

 if present, is indistinguishable from the acetabular epiphysis. 



T\\e femur is short and somewhat flattened; the head and broad lesser 

 trochanter are bent upon, and the great trochanter is continuous with, 

 the shaft, as in Erinacens, but the third trochanter is more distinct. The 

 condyles are broad and the patellar trochlea gently concave. 



The iihia and fibula, though still unfused, are closely conjoined in the 

 distal third, and the upper end of the tibia curves outward from the fibula, 

 the whole arrangement suggesting an incipient fusion of the two bones (this 

 fusion is realized in Microgale). The proximal end of the tibia is broad 

 and flat, the intercondylar or median ridge being low, as in certain other 

 plantigrade types {e. g., Mephitis). The fibula expands proximally and in 

 Microgale this expansion is large and suggests the ■Marsupial type. 



The pes (Fig. 19, B^, B~) is longer and narrower than the manus. The 

 astragalus is wholly different from the Didelphid type in its long slender 



