FOSSIL REMAINS. 471 



was based originally on remains from the Tertiary deposit at 

 Richmond, Virginia; the others on teeth from the Ashley Eiver 

 beds of the same age in South Carolina. 



1. ^Phoca wymanV. The Eichmond remains were first de- 

 scribed by the late Professor Wyman in 1850,* who merely 

 referred them to " an animal belonging to the family of Phocidce". 

 The bones are spoken of as fragile, and as having " evidently 

 been crushed previous to exhumation n . " The pieces in my pos- 

 session 7 ', says Professor Wyman, " consist of two temporal bones 

 nearly entire, a fragment including a portion of the parietal and 

 occipital bones, and in addition a part of the base of the skull. 

 The reentering angle of the occiput, the well-marked depressions 

 corresponding with the cerebral convolutions on the parietal 

 bones, the form of the cranial cavity, the deep fossa above the 

 internal auditory foramen, the vascular canals opening on the 

 occiput, and the inflated tympanic bones, all indicated an affin- 

 ity to the Phocidce. The size varied but little from that of the 

 common Harp Seal (Phoca grcenlandica). The presence of an in- 

 terparietal crest, indicating a large development of the temporal 

 muscles, offers a diagnostic sign by which it may be distinguished 

 from P. barbata, P. grcenlandica, P. Mspida, P. mitrata, and P. 

 vitulina. From those species of Seals which are provided with 

 a crest the fossil presents a well-marked difference in having 

 the mastoid process much larger, more rounded and prominent, 

 nearly equalling the tympanic bone in size. The entrance to 

 the carotid artery is in full view when the base of the skull is 

 turned upwards. The imperfectly divided canal which lodges 

 the Eustachian tube and the tensor tympani muscle is of re- 

 markable dimensions, especially when compared with that of 

 P. grcenlandica. The interparietal crest, extending from the 

 occiput to the anterior edge of the frontals, is most narrow pos- 

 teriorly where it is but slightly elevated above the surrounding 

 bones". 



In the description above given there is nothing to prevent 

 the supposition that these cranial fragments are referable to a 

 small species of Squalodont. If, however, they are really 

 Phocine, they represent a type very unlike anything at present 

 known, either existing or extinct. But other remains are de- 

 scribed by Professor Wyman, from the same locality, and in 

 the same paper, which do not seem to admit of such an inter- 

 pretation. Thus, to continue the quotation : " The fragments 



*Amer. Jour. Sci., 2cl ser., vol. x, 1850, p. 229. 



