408 



Mr. C. Forster-Cooper on new Mammals 



Aprotodon smitn-woodwardi, gen. et sp. n. 



Two fragments of mandibular symphysis, of one of which 

 the upper and lower sides are figured (figs. 4 & 5), and a 

 portion of the orbital region of a skull are undoubtedly parts 

 of a small hippopotamus. These are interesting as the earliest- 

 known occurrence of the hippopotamus (considerably before 

 the genus Merycopotamus, which has been suggested as close 

 to the ancestral line). The skull portion is indistinguishable 

 from that of the Hippopotamidse in general, and is about the 



Fig-. 4. 



size of H. lemerlei. The lower jaws, so far as the fragments 

 go, also show a general similarity to those of the family, but 

 differ in the apparent absence of incisor teeth. Both frag- 

 ments are the same in this respect, the front border being 

 very thin, and where it is broken away in places there is no 

 sign of tooth-sockets. This might be due to closure of the 

 socket from extreme old age, but there is nothing to show 

 that this was the case. One of the fragments shows the 

 stump of the first premolar. Large canines were present, as 

 shown by the sockets. 



