290 THE PELVIC GIRDLE. ' [chap. 



of nearly equal length. In most species the ilia are straight, 

 flattened, and not everted above (see Fig. 107. p. 287) the iliac 

 surface {is) is very narrow, and confined to the lower part of 

 the bone, as the acetabular and pubic borders meet in front 

 above ; the gluteal surface looks directly outwards and is 

 concave ; the sacral surface {ss) forms a broad flat plane 

 above the attachment to the sacrum, the crest being formed 

 by the united edges of the sacral and gluteal surfaces, 

 instead of the iliac and gluteal surfaces, as in Man, The 

 symphysis is long ; it includes part of both pubis and is- 

 chium, and commonly becomes completely osseous in 

 adult animals. The thyroid foramen (//{/) is oval, with its 

 long axis parallel to that of the whole bone. The ischia 

 are wide and divergent posteriorly. 



In the Hyaena the pelvis is shorter and wider than in most 

 other Carnivora, both the upper ends of the ilia and lower 

 ends of the ischia being considerably everted. 



In the Bears the ilia are short and everted above. 



In the Seals the pelvis is small, and of a different form 

 from that of the terrestrial Carnivora. The ilia are exceed- 

 ingly short, and with much everted upper borders ; the 

 pubes and ischia are very long and slender, enclosing a long 

 and narrow obturator foramen, and meeting at a symphysis 

 of very small extent, in which the bones of the two sides 

 are very slightly connected, and capable of being widely 

 separated during parturition. 



The pelvis' of the Imsectivora varies considerably in 

 form. In Rliynchocyon, Maavscelides, and Tupata, the 

 symphysis is long, as in the Carnivora, and becomes 

 ankylosed ; in Erinaceus it is short, though the bones of 

 the two sides are in contact ; but in many other genera 

 the pubic bones are widely separated in the middle line 

 below. 



