177 



22 (0. C.). The left ramus of the mandible, wanting the incisors, 



canine, and m. 2 ; from a cavern in Sundwig, Westphalia. 



ISommering Collection. Purchased, 1827. 



Mustela, sp. 

 Hob. India. 



15914. Fragment of the left ramus of the mandible, containing the 

 {Fig.) carnassial and the broken pm . 4 ; from the Pliocene of the 

 Siwalik Hills, India. In this specimen, which is repre- 

 sented in the accompanying woodcut (fig. 25), the form of 



Fig. 25. 



Mustela, sp. Fragment of the left ramus of the mandible ; from the 

 Siwalik Hills. }. 



the carnassial is precisely that of the corresponding tooth 

 of Mustela proper, so that it may be safely referred to that 

 genus. In size the two remaining teeth, as well as the 

 ramus itself, agree almost exactly with the mandible of the 

 living Indian M.flavigula ; but the carnassial of the fossil 

 is readily distinguished by the larger size of the inner 

 cusp, and the greater development of the talon, which is 

 relatively longer than in the existing species, being wider 

 than any other part of the tooth. The inner portion of 

 the talon has a distinct rim, which is wanting in the 

 existing species, thus causing the talon to be slightly basin- 

 shaped. These differences indicate that the Siwalik form 

 is, in all probability, specifically distinct from M.flavigula. 

 In the form of the carnassial and in general size the speci- 

 men is very close to M. martes ; but the last premolar is 

 considerably shorter than in that species. No other living 

 species appears to come nearer to the fossil. 



Turning to fossil species, the Siwalik jaw is distin- 

 guished from that of the Pikermi M. penteleci, Gaudry l , 



Animaux fossiles et Geologic de 1'Attique, p. 42, pi. vi. figs. 3, 4. 



