536 Dr. Forsyth Major — M. Miocene Carnivora from France. 



Measurements in millimetres. 



Fr.certa. Fr.crassa.^ Fr.Gaillardi.'^ 

 From posterior margin of m. 1 to anterior 



alveolar margin of p. 4 56 — — 



Length of m. 1 17-5 ... 13-15 ... 11-5 



„ p. 1 14-5 ... 11-13 ... 9-5 



„ p. 2 14 ... 10-6-11 ... 9 



,, alveolus of p. 3 10-5 ... 9-5 ... 7 



., ,, p. 4 3-5 — ... 3 



Height of maudibula below m. 1 (internal side) 18 ... 20 ... 15 



LEPTOPLESICTIS, gen. nov. 



The new genus here proposed is founded on five moi'e or less 

 complete mandibular rami (Brit. Mus. M. 5308; M. 5552a-c), 

 ascribed to two species, one of which has been described by Gaillard ^ 

 under the name of Herpestes Filholi. 



In the slenderness of the teeth Leptoplesictis approaches the genus 

 Stenoplesictis from the French Phosphorites ; but its other characters 

 assign to it decidedly a position within the Viverridee, whilst 

 Stenoplesictis, as pointed out by Schlosser, is on the border-line 

 between the latter family and the Mustelidee. 



1 have, in this place, nothing to add to Gaillard's excellent 

 description of the larger of the two species, Leptoplesictis FiUioli 

 (GailL), which is distinguished from the smaller one, Leptoplesictis 

 minor, sp.n., by the markedly higher ramus ascendens, the anterior 

 border of which is also more vertical, as well as by the larger size. 

 The dimension between the posterior alveolar margin of m. 1 and 

 the anterior of p. 4 is 21-5 mm. in L. Filholi, against 18 mm. in 

 Z. minor, B.M. (M. 5552& and c). 



MELIDiE. 



Trocharion albanense, gen. et sp. nov. 



A portion of a right mandibula, bearing the posterior premolar 

 and the two molars, belongs to a member of the Melidas approaching 

 Mephitis with its allies, and the Javan Mydaus. The teeth are low, 

 with their cusps less pointed than in the American Skunks, but 

 not so blunt as in the Old World genus. P. 1 is an unicuspid, 

 conical, rather thickset tooth, with a diminutive basal cusp 

 anteriorly, and a posterior transverse basal cingulum. The anterior 

 margin of the principal cusp presents a sharp ridge ; the posterior 

 is broad. The first molar resembles the corresponding tooth of 

 Mephitis ; however, in spite of the cusps being lower than in the 

 American Skunks, the internal margin of the crown, between the 

 cusps, is more raised, with the result that in the fossil there are 

 not two openings on the internal side, and we have the unusual 

 feature of an anterior pit, similar to but less deep than the pit 

 of the talon. 



The posterior molar is oblong in shape and less reduced than 

 in the Skunks and in Mydaiis ; it has two roots ; there is a distinct 



^ The dimensions of the premolars and the height of the mandibula are taken 

 from Deperet's figures. 



2 Dimensions given by Gaillard, op. cit., pp. 61-62. 



3 Op. cit., pp. 62-63,' pi. iii, fig. 4. 



