THE 



GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE, 



NEW SERIES. DECADE V. VOL. VI. 



No. IX. — SEPTEMBEE, 1909. 



OE-IGrHST-A-Iu .^I?,TICI-.ES. 



I. — Preliminary !Noxe on a. New AETioDAcrrLE prom Majorca, 



MyOTEAGUS BALEARICUS^ gen. ET SP. NOV. 



By Dorothea M. A. Bate. 



(with four text-figures.) 



IN March of the present year (1909) the Eev. R. Ashington Bullen, 

 who was then travelling in Majorca, wrote to inform me of the 

 existence of a supposed ossiferous breccia situated on the east coast of 

 that island. This caused a long-deferred project of exploring the 

 Balearic Islands in search of Pleistocene cave-deposits to be carried 

 out, and a month was spent in this manner, although a much longer 

 period would be required for an exhaustive examination of Majorca 

 alone, which was the only one of the group visited. A considerable 

 tract of limestone coiintry was investigated, and the result was 

 the discovery of three ossiferous cave-deposits, including the one 

 mentioned above. Similar remains were procured from each of 

 these, and on examination prove to be those of an ungulate which 

 appears to be without parallel. No great quantity of material was 

 obtained, biit this fortunately includes a well-preserved skull of an old 

 individual with the associated mandible and atlas vertebra — the type- 

 specimen, see Fig. 1 — as well as a number of perfect examples of 

 various limb-bones. 



I hope shortly to be able to communicate a detailed account, with 

 figures and full descriptions, of this collection, but for the present 

 must confine myself to noting the more striking peculiarities of the 

 skull and limb-bones without entering into the questions of affinity 

 and descent. It will be seen from the illustration that the skull and 

 horns are those of a small goat-like animal, while the same may be 

 said of the molar series. The most striking peculiarity of the 

 dentition is that the mandible carries a pair of large and permanently 

 growing rodent-like median incisors, the other incisors and the canine 

 being entirely wanting ; it was this which suggested the name for the 

 new genus which seems to be required for the reception of this animal, 

 while the specific name denotes its habitat. It is proposed that it 

 shall be called Mijotragus halearicus. 



The profile view of the skull given in Fig. 1 shows that although 

 the molars approach in size to those of the common goat, the whole 



DECADE V. VOL. VI. — NO. IX. 2.) 



