1/50 Dr. (J. J. F. Major on Fossil Qua/lrumana. 



M. liicdcrmann liad given to the fossil the name of Pliopi- 

 tJuicus platyodon^ M. Rijtimeycrj on the other hand (J leer, 

 /. c.) , regards the jaw from l^^lgg as Ijelonging to the same 

 speeies as thos(5 of Saiisan, which he names llijIohateH antiqims. 

 llovvev(;r, considering how sligiit are the specific and even the 

 generic differences presented by the dentition of the living 

 monkeys, we shall be disjwsed rather to accept for the fossils 

 in question two distinct species and to refer them to a distinct 

 genus. The PllopitlieaiH antu/uuH of Sansan aj)])roac]ies the 

 anthropomorphous ajics more than P. platyodon^an account of 

 the blunter tubercles of its molars, which indicate a more 

 frugivorous diet. Lartet has demonstrated that tiie true molars 

 of the Sansan jaw even present more resemblance, apart from 

 sizf!, to those of the gorilla than to those of ]fyloh<iteH, espe- 

 cially tJKi last molar (/r/'), which is longer than the penultimate 

 one; and tiiis is not the case in the (iiljbons*. P. pUdyodon^ 

 on the contrary, diverges from the anthroj)omorphous ajjcs l>y 

 the, form of its molars, which are furnished with less rounded 

 tubercles and with more trenchant crests. Tin; differences ])re- 

 sented by the incisors and ciAmnQ,?,oi PlurpitJu'.cus platyodonYf\\(in 

 comp.'tred with those of the g(;nus Hyloljates have been indicated 

 ])y M. Jiicdennarm and ])y M. Uutimeyer himself (lleer, I.e.). 



The sec(jnd (]uadrumane of which Jjartet presented a de- 

 scription to the Acarlemy, in 1850 (/. c), JJryopithecuH Fontani^ 

 also belongs to the anthropomorphous grou|j. It was found in 

 a bed of marly clay situated at A\it base of the plateau on which 

 the town of ot. (laudens (Haute-Garonne) is built, a locality 

 belonging to the same geological horizon as Sansan. 'JMie 

 remains consist of two halves of a lower jaw with the ascend- 

 ing rami truncated, togetlu;r with the syniphysary r(!gion of 

 the jaw and a humerus, the whole indicating an individual 

 still young but of large size. The last molar on each side 

 was not yet in its place ; nevertheless the jaw bears the teeth 

 of the second set : this is what occurs in the human species, 

 whilst among the monkeys in general, according to Lartet, 

 the cutting of the last molar always prcciidcs the shedding 

 and replacement of the milk teeth. The crowns of the hinder 

 molars present the five blunt points which characterize the 

 lower molars of the higher apes and those of man. "To sum 

 up, this fossil, with characters of inferiority in certain points of 

 view, takes its place in the group of anthropomorplunis a])es, 

 which includes the (Jhiinpanzee, the Orang, the (iorilla, the 

 Gibbons, and the sp(;cies of the fossil genus Plwpithecus.^^ 



* See the excellent fif^ures which have boen f^iven of the dentition of 

 Hyluhules xyjiilactylus by Gei-vais (Hist. Nat. doe ManiinifeieH, lb54, p. 49) 

 aiid (Jiobul (Odontogmpljio, pi. 1. lig. 8). 



