A FOSSIL RACCOON FROM A CALIFORNIA PLEISTOCENE 



CAVE DEPOSIT. 



By James Williams (tidley, 



Oftlie Tkpartment of (leology. 



While engag-ed in the work of cataloguing- fossil vertebrate material 

 in the United States National Museum, the writer recently brought to 

 light a small collection of fossils from ''Cave Bear" Cave, McCloud 

 River, California, in which were some fragmentary bones and well- 

 preserved upper and lower jaws of an apparently new species of 

 Procyon^ which isdescri})ed below\ The remainder of the lot consists 

 principally of liml) bones and vertebrae of a very large carnivore, prob- 

 ably a species of Aiiij)h!cy(>n. These last-mentioned bones are com- 

 paratively free from matrix, being only lightly coated with a reddish 

 deposit, characteristic of the decomposition of limestone, but the bones 

 and teeth of the Procyon specimen were heavily incrusted with stalac- 

 titic and crystalline calcite, suggesting that they may have come from 

 a different part of the cave. The specimens, however, are jjrobably 

 contemporaiy and of Pleistocene age. 



This interesting little collection was |)rocured and presented to the 

 Museum by Mr. L. Scone, in 188L 



PROCYON SIMUS, new species. 



The type specimen (Cat. No. 2634, U.S.N.M.) represents an adult 

 male, as indicated by the relatively large canines, and consists of ]>()tii 

 jaws, containing a complete series of upper and lower teeth, a por- 

 tion of the palate, both otic bullae, and a few other skull fragments. 

 Associated with it and probably belonging to the same individual are 

 the distal half of a humerus and the nearly complete half of a pelvis. 



This species most closely resembles the California variety of the 

 living Proeyon ]()t<n\ with which it is here compared, but besides its 

 somewhat greater size the following important differences are observ- 

 able: 



(1) The lower jaw has relatively a nuich greater depth, especially 

 anteriorl}', the molar premolar series of teeth standing at a relatively 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. XXIX— No. 1435. 



558 



