368 NOTES ON THE CANIDH OF THE WHITE RIVER OLIGOCENE. 
JUL, “Abisns}ysituney (IEG SSID Ieee Ly by) 
The skull of Cynodictis is decidedly primitive and in general appearance resembles 
that of such viverrine genera as Paradoxurus, rather than that of the modern Canidae. 
Among the latter the alopecoid series have skulls more resembling the type of Cynodictis 
than do the thooids, though the Brazilian bush-dog (Jcticyon) is, on the whole, most like 
the fossil in the proportions of its skull. 
In Cynodictis, as in Daphenus, the facial or preorbital region of the skull is very 
short and the cranial portion very long. The occiput is low and the upper contour of 
the skull rises steeply from the inion to about the middle of the parietals, whence it 
descends in an almost straight line to the anterior nares, the only departure from straight- 
ness being a hardly noticeable concavity or “dishing” of the nasals about midway in 
their length. In Vulpes the profile is quite similar, but the posterior rise from the occi- 
put is much shorter and less steep, and the dishing of the nasals is more conspicuous. 
The sagittal crest is low and weak, and in the John Day C lemur, the smallest species 
of the genus, the crest is replaced by a lyrate sagittal area. The cranium, though slen- 
der, elongate and contracting anteriorly, is relatively fuller and more capacious than in 
Daphenus, and the postorbital constriction, though much deeper, is as near the orbit as 
in the modern foxes, and is, therefore, much farther forward than in Daphenus. ‘The 
John Day specimens, which Cope has referred to C. gregarius (85, Pl. LX VIII, Fig. 6), 
have an eyen fuller cranium and shallower postorbital constriction, which should, per- 
haps, be a reason for separating these animals specifically from the White River forms. 
The muzzle in Cynodictis is very slender, but tapers gradually and is not so abruptly 
constricted at the line of the infraorbital foramina as in Daphanus. In the European 
representatives of the genus the skull is much like that of the American species, but is 
somewhat more primitive and like that of Daphenus. Thus, the muzzle is more abruptly 
constricted, and the postorbital constriction is deeper and occupies a more posterior posi- 
tion. 
A more detailed examination of the skull brings out the following facts : 
The occiput is low, very broad at the base and narrowing toward the summit less 
than in the large wolves, but more than in Vulpes or Urocyon ; a well-marked median 
conyexity is produced by the vermis of the cerebellum. The crest of the inion is low 
and weak, much less prominent than in Daphenus. 'The foramen magnum differs some- 
what in shape in the different individuals, being in some low and broad, and in others 
of subcireular outline, a difference which may, in part, be due to a slight crushing. The 
dorsal margin of the foramen projects much more prominently than in the recent Canide. 
The basioccipital is long, broad and of nearly uniform width throughout; it is 
