202 PROF. ST.-GEORGE MIVART ON THE iELUROIDEA. [Feb. 7, 



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p. 4 



^ is small and minute, occasionally absent. 



The anterior and posterior external cusps of '^^ are about 



equal, and nearly approach in size the median external one. 

 5^ has a large or small talon. 

 The outer incisors greatly exceed the middle ones. 

 The humerus wants the supracondyloid foramen. 

 The penis is boneless. 



The ears are long, erect, and (with one exception) pointed. 

 The tarsus and metatarsus are entirely hairy. 

 There is one small plantar pad and one beneath each digit. 

 The anus opens into a sac. 

 The anal glands vary from one to three pairs. 

 There are no prescrotal scent-glands. 

 There is a moderate caecum. 

 The tongue is furnished with large conical papillae on its 



dorsum ; but these are not hard as in the Felidce. 

 The calloso-marginal sulcus joins the crucial sulcus. 

 Angle of mandible flattened along its inferior border, and 



pressed up nearer to the condyle, relatively, than in the 



Felidce. 



Proportional length of limbs longer than in Viverridce. 

 Length of muzzle to cranium intermediate between Viverridce 



and Felidce. 

 Dentition extremely sectorial, while it is nevertheless formed 



for crushing. 



Tail rather shorter, but not as in Lynxes. 

 The clitoris may be traversed by the urogenital canal. 

 Dorsal vertebrae not less than fifteen. 

 Postorbital processes short and blunt. 

 Paroccipital processes depending. 

 Mastoid rather prominent. 

 No carotid foramen in sphenoid. 

 Nose and upper lip medianly grooved. 

 Palate not much prolonged behind last molar. 

 No pterygoid fossa. 

 Enormous cranial ridges. 



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The genus Proteles, long known ' as regards its skin and skeleton, 

 had its anatomy first fully described by Professor Flower ", who 

 pointed out previously ^ the characters of the basis crauii, and its 

 affinity, thus indicated, to the Herpestince and the tlyoenincB. Save 

 for its greater slenderness, the animal has the general form of an 

 Hyaena, with similarly long, erect, and pointed ears, and with a well- 

 developed dorsal mane. There are five fore digits (though the pollex 

 is short), but only four digits to the hind foot. There is a single 



'^ First described in Sparrmau's ' Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, 1772- 

 1776.' See P. Z. S. 1869, p. 475. 



2 P. Z. S. 1869, p. 474, pi. 36, with various anatomical woodcuts. 

 ' P. Z. S. 1869, p. 28. 



