1872.] 



THE BROAD-HEADED WOMBAT. 



499 



of the skull contrasted with those of Dr. Murie and Professor 

 Owen : — 



Total length of cranium 



Greatest width at the posterior part of the zy- "1 



gomatic arch / 



Width behind orbits when contracted by tern- 1 



poral fosste J 



Width at anterior part of zygomatic arch 



Length from occipital crest to temporal fossa . . 



Length of nasal bones 



Width of same behind (both together) 



Width of same anteriorly 



Length of frontal bones 



Width of same between orbits 



Width of intermaxillary 



Length of palate 



Width between anterior molars 



Width between posterior molars 



Width of both upper incisors 



Depth of same singly 



Distance from upper incisors to molars 



Total extent of row of molars 



Length of lower jaw 



Greatest breadth of same 



Height in vertical line from the coronoid process 



Width of lower incisors 



Depth of the same 



T.C.D. 



in. lin. 



6 2 

 4 3 



1 4 



3 10 



2 

 2 

 2 

 11 

 2 2 



9 

 8 

 3i 



6 



9 

 6 



2 

 7 

 6 



1 

 1 



4 

 4 



9 

 



24 



Dr. 



Murie's. 



in. lin. 



6 5 



4 9 



1 5h 



4 



2 U 



4 



2 



4* 



7^ 



3 



8 



SJ 



9 



1 8 

 1 104. 



Prof. 

 Owen's. 



in. lin. 



6 3 



5 



1 3 



3 7 

 54. 

 10J 

 9 



3 



1 64. 



1 9 



4 4 



2 9 

 6 

 3 



My specimen exhibits the characteristic features pointed out by 

 Professor Owen (Catalogue of Osteological Specimens, vol. i. p. 334, 

 no. 1 843), namely : — " Great development of the postorbital angles ; 

 great and sudden expansion of the anterior half of the frontal bones ; 

 the superior breadth of the strip of the maxillary bone which 

 ascends in front of the malar and lachrymal bones to join the nasal 

 bones, and the enormous depth of the supratympanic fossae. " 



The peculiar skull-features presented by it are the following : — 

 The foramen magnum is notched posteriorly so as to give it some- 

 what of a trefoil figure, like that in Phascolomys wombat and pla- 

 tyrhinus ; in Murie and Owen's specimens it is oval. The line of 

 suture between the exoccipitals and the supraoccipital is still apparent, 

 though the bones are united ; and these sutures impinge on the fora- 

 men magnum at the sides of the posterior notch. A fainter trace of 

 the suture between the basioccipital and exoccipital is still apparent 

 crossing the anterior and inferior part of the condyle. An exceedingly 

 minute postcondyloid foramen and a double anterior condyloid are 

 present ; and the lateral spurs of the basioccipital are rounded and 

 prominent (see fig. 2, p. 501). Above the occipital crest there is 

 the trace of a short, widely triangular, epactal bone in the lambdoidal 

 suture, measuring 9 lines in length antero-posteriorly and 3 in breadth. 

 This is consolidated to the left parietal j but its suture ou the right 



