l82 PATAGONIAN EXPEDITIONS: ZOOLOGY. 



deuterocone, 3.5 ; m.i, length, 2 ; transverse breadth, 5.5 ; lower jaw, 

 length, 69; height at condyle, 10; height at coronoid, 34; depth at 

 m.y, 12; length of toothrow, 23. 



There is a striking similarity in size and general form between the 

 skulls of O. geoffroyi and L. pajeros critcina, the two skulls before me 

 representing these two species differing in general dimensions by only a 

 few millimeters. The chief difference in general conformation consists in 

 the greater and more abrupt expansion posteriorly of the zygomatic arches 

 in cnicina and the much greater width of the posterior nares. In denti- 

 tion, however, the differences are marked, the dental armature being much 

 heavier in geoffroyi than in cntcina ; the upper molar is more than twice 

 as large in the former, and the upper premolars are longer and broader. 

 In geoffroyi the lower molar has the posterior cusp or talon strongly de- 

 veloped, while in cruciua it is practically obsolete, being represented by a 

 barely perceptible knob on the inner posterior border of the cingulum. 



O. geoffroyi has the skull relatively shorter and broader than in the O. 

 pardalis group, with weaker dentition ; it is, of course, a much smaller 

 animal, with a relatively longer tail. It is, however, \try much more 

 different from the long-tailed, very small cats of the O. wiedi group. 



Geographical Distributio.v. — Felis geoffroyi was originally made 

 known from specimens collected by D'Orbigny on the banks of the 

 Rio Negro, Patagonia. The specimens in the present collection show it 

 to range southward to the Rio Gallegos, some five hundred miles to the 

 southward of the type locality, and near the southern boundary of Pata- 

 gonia, where it is apparently not uncommon. Burmeister reports it as 

 occurring throughout the Argentine Republic, and states that he has seen 

 it on the Parana and Tucuma, and that it was found by Leubold at 

 Mendoza. 



General History. — Molina, in 1782, gave the name Felis guigna to 

 a small spotted cat found in the forests of Chili, but his brief description 

 is inadequate for the satisfactor)' determination of the species. The 

 name, however, has been employed by some authors for the Patagonian 

 animal, described as Felis geoffroyi by D'Orbigny and Gervais in 1844. 

 Dr. J. E. Gray, in 1867, described a cat supposed to have come from the 

 Himalayas, as Pardalina wnrwickii. It has since been identified by Dr. 

 Sclater (/. c.) and Mr. D. G. Elliot (/. c.) with Felis geoffroyi, its supposed 

 Indian origin having proved to be erroneous. 



