214 PROCEEDINCIS OF TTfE NATIONAL MUSEim. vol. xxx. j 



tivore affinities. On the other hand, if we compare it with the Oligo- r 

 cene dog Daphamux^ in which onl}' tlie smaller or true tympanic tj 

 chamhor of the skull was ossified, and this so loosely attached to the 

 skull that it is rarel}' preserved, we find a very close correspondence 

 indicative of real relationship, while the numerous and important 

 points of ditt'eronce from Insectivora and especially from marsupials 

 iiulicatc a remote origin of the divergence from these groups. 



The basioccipital is long and )>road. The ])road tiattentul paroccipital 

 processes arise considerably in advance of the condyles and project 

 backward to a short ])oint. Jn /)<ij>/i<i'/it/s the l)asioccipital is even 

 longer; the paroccipitals have the same position and form, but curve 

 viownward at the tips. In Didr/jf/ti/,^ tliey ai'ise almost opposite the 

 condyles and project straight downward. In Ci/jiodlctis they project 

 backward and are otherwise similar. In modern carnivora the tips 

 usually extend farther downward and are soldered to the bulla. In 

 Krhiactti^ and Centetes they have the more posterior position and 

 project downward in the former, outward and backward in the latter. 

 The condyloid foramen is situate considerably in advance of the con- 

 dyles, as in carnivora generally. In marsupials and Insectivora it is 

 close under the projecting border of the condyle, and in the former 

 has an accessory foramen, also entering backward, close in front of it. 

 In front of the condyloid foramen in Slnopa is a well-marked foramen 

 entering forward, which Wortman homologizes with the accessory 

 condyloid foramen of marsupials in spite of its opposite direction and 

 quite ditl'ercnt position in the bone. It appears to me much more 

 probable that this foramen transmits one of the nerves or arteries 

 which ill later Carnivora pass through the jugular foramen {/<»'. hic. 

 2>ost.)^ with which it corresponds in direction and from wbich it is not 

 far removed. Indeed, in Daj)/KF)ius, the condyloid foramen is a little 

 farther forward and on the posterior border of the posterior lacerate 

 foramen is a notch entirely corresponding to the remains of this acces- 

 sor}^ foramen, if, as I suppose, it has become fused with the lacerate. 

 A similar notch is seen in Th/dcnodon^ where the l)ackwtird displace- 

 ment of the glenoid fossa^ has crowded the parts behnul tluMii toward 

 the condyle. The basisphenoid is not pierced by the carotid canal— an 

 important distinction, as Wortman observes, fi-om the marsupials; 

 and he believes from inilications .seen on his specimen, but which I am 

 unable to corroborate from this one, that its course was similar to that 

 in true Carnivora, entering finally at the median lacerate foramen. 

 The petrosal prominence is pear-shaped, the small end antero-internal; 

 near the posterior end is the fenestra rotunda, exterior and a little in 

 front of it the fenestra ovalis, and on the antero-exterior slope of the 

 prominence a smaller foramen which I do not recognize. Outside of 

 the petrosal prominence is a long, deep fossa bounded anteriorly by 

 the alisphenoid, externallj' b}- the glenoid portion of the scpiamosal, 



