338 Br. C. W. Andrews — Myotragus balearicus. 



carpals and even of the tiny sesamoids. In the case of the hind-limb 

 only the pelvis is restored. 



The chief peculiarities of the skull are (1) the shortening of the 

 face ; (2) the position of the orbits, which look more upward and 

 forward than usual; (3) the rigid attachment of the premaxillse, the 

 upper ends of which are firmly fixed between the maxilla? and nasals — 

 in most related forms they do not reach the nasals, and consequently 

 are weakly supported. As usual in the group the premaxillse bear 

 no teeth, at least in the adult. In one very young individual there 

 is on one side a pit which may represent the alveolus of an 

 evanescent tooth, though this is not, certain. The mandible is 

 relatively short and stout; the condyle, in spite of the peculiar 

 modification of the incisors, is similar to that seen in Bovidse, in 

 which the normal arrangement of incisors and canines occurs. 



As already mentioned the most remarkable character of this animal 

 is the presence of a pair of large permanently growing incisors, the 

 other incisors and canines being all suppressed, at least in the adult. 

 These enlarged incisors have their anterior face covered with a thick 

 coat of enamel, and in wear they together form a sharp cutting-edge, 

 semicircular in outline. This edge must have worked against a hard 

 pad on the premaxillae, just as is the case with the incisors and canines 

 of the normal Bovidse. 



The premolars are reduced to two in the upper, and in most cases 

 only one in the lower jaw. The molars are remarkable for their 

 extreme degree of hypsodonty, the roots of the first upper molar 

 extending nearly up to the nasals, and its height being actually 

 greater than that of m. 1 in a sheep of very much larger size. All 

 the teeth seem to have been subjected to extremely hard wear. 



The vertebral column presents no special peculiarities. 



The fore-limb is chiefly remarkable for the shortness and stoutness 

 of the humerus and metacarpus, while the radius and ulna are 

 relatively slender bones. The shortening and antero - posterior 

 compression of the metacarpus is far greater than that seen in any 

 other member of the Bovidse with the exception of the Takin 

 (Btidorcas), in which this bone is of strikingly similar form. 



In the hind-limb the femur and metatarsus are much shortened, 

 and here also great similarity with the corresponding bones of the 

 Takin exists. One notable peculiarity is that in the adult the distal 

 row of tarsals is fused to the metatarsus. In both fore and hind feet 

 the vestiges of the lateral digits are much larger than usual, and 

 the arrangement of the rather broad hoofs seems well adapted for 

 climbing. 



In the paper in the Philosophical Transactions above referred to, 

 the various parts of the skeleton are compared with the corresponding 

 bones in a number of other forms (e.g. the Kocky Mountain Goat 

 ( Oreamnus), the Gc-ral {Nemorhcedus), the Takin (Budorcas)), and 

 from these comparisons it seems clear that Myotragus was a Rupi- 

 caprine antelope in which the feet, as in Oreamnus and Budorcas, 

 were highly specialized for climbing on steep crags and screes, while 

 the dentition has probably been modified for feeding on some very 

 hard vegetable substance, as to the nature of which various suggestions 



