1899-] Woriman and Matthe^u, Ancestry of the Canida, etc. 137 



this family. This is especially seen in the superior sectorial, in 

 which there is a deep vertical notch separating the two halves of 

 the blade, and a prominent anterior basal cusp, which is invariably 

 present in the carnivorous Civets. The superior molars, more- 

 over, have the same characteristic pattern, and the lower teeth, 

 with the exception of some unimportant details, are very viver- 

 rine. The atlas has the same arrangements of the perforations 

 for the vertebral artery as is found in the Civets, differing in this 

 respect from the other known families of the Carnivora. The 

 remaining vertebrse agree with those of the Viverridse, and the 

 lower end of the radius has the same characteristic triangular 

 form in cross-section as in Viverricula. The feet and limbs are 

 also very like those of the Viverrines, with the exception that the 

 scaphoid and lunar bones of the carpus are free and not united 

 as in the modern family. 



Altogether we think it may be stated with considerable certainty 

 that the group represents the forerunners of the Viverrine phylum 

 whose members towards the close of the Eocene migrated to Asia. 

 This view receives strong additional support from the fact that 

 the typical genus Viverra runs backward without change into the 

 Upper Eocene of Europe, showing a remarkable degree of per- 

 sistence of structure, which also characterizes the genus Viver- 

 ravus, passing as it does with only slight specific modifications 

 from the Torrejon beds of New Mexico through to the Bridger. 



The technical definition of the group rests upon the exclusive 

 development of the fourth superior premolar and the first inferior 

 molar into enlarged typical sectorials, thereby distinguishing it 

 from all the other known Creodonts except the early members of 

 the Canid^e. From this latter family it is distinguished by having 

 only two molars in the lower jaw and an anterior basal cusp upon 

 the superior sectorial. From the Viverridae it is separated by 

 the free condition of the scaphoid, lunar, and probably the 

 centrale as well. 



The species are numerous and range in time from the Torrejon 

 to the Bridger. 



