703 



depression in the bone has not extended beyond the sinuses*. The rhinencephalic compart- 

 ment is surrounded by the olfactory chamber : the sella turcica is deep and -well-defined : 

 ossification has extended from the posterior to the anterior clinoid processes. 



Presented by Prof. Owen, F.E.S. 

 Genus Felis. 



Dental formula : g, c g, p g, m =30. 

 4 175. The skeleton of a male Lion (Felis Led). 



The vertebral formula is : 7 cervical, 13 dorsal, 7 lumbar, 3 sacral, and 23 caudal. The 

 last cervical vertebra has the transverse processes imperforate, being formed only by diapo- 

 physes. The eleventh dorsal is that toward which the spines of the other trunk- vertebrae 

 converge : the anapophyses begin to project backwards from this vertebra, and are continued 

 to the penultimate lumbar. Eight pairs of ribs directly join the sternum, which consists of 

 eight bones. The clavicular bone is preserved on the left side. The supraspinal fossa of the 

 scapula is less deep than the infraspinal one, and its border is almost uniformly convex : the 

 acromion is bifid, the recurved point being little larger than the extremity or anterior point. 

 The humerus is perforated above the inner condyle, but not between the condyles. The sca- 

 phoid and lunar bones are connate. The pollex is retained on the fore-foot, and, like the other 

 toes, is terminated by a large, compressed, retractile ungual phalanx, forming a deep sheath 

 for the firm attachment of the large curved and sharp-pointed claws. This highly-developed 

 unguiculate structure, with the dental system and concomitant modifications of the skull, 

 completes the predatory character of the typical Carnicora forming the present genus. 



Hunterian. 



4476. The articulated bones of the right anterior extremity of a Lion (Felis Leo). 



Hunterian. 



4477. The articulated bones of the right posterior extremity of a Lion (Fells Leo). 



Hunteria/t. 



447S. The skull of an old male Lion (Felis Leo), 



Its specific character is shown by the obtusely-pointed termination of the nasal process of 

 the maxillary, and its extension backwards to the same transverse line as that which the 

 hinder ends of the nasals reach. The carnivorous character of the skull, as exemplified by 

 the sagittal and occipital crests, by the strength and expanse of the zygomatic arches, by the 

 breadth, depth and shortness of the jaws, by the height of the coronoid processes, and by the 



* A fossil cranium of the Hyeena speleea (fig. 59, p. 154, Owen's ' History of British Fossil Mam- 

 mals') exhibits the same circumstance, illustrative of the same combative habits in the extinct and 

 recent species. 



