1898.] ON AN ANTHEOPOID APE. 989 



Fig, 2. Ventral view of the skull of a young Pygoscelin papua, showing the 

 unclosed sutures, the anterior basicranial fontanelle, and basi- 

 temporal plate of the parasphenoid. 



Fig. 3. Lateral view of the outer side of the skull ; note especially the great 

 distinctness of the squamosal, the prootic and epiotic, the para- 

 sphenoid, and the hemipterygoid. 



Fig. 4. Skull of a nestling Catarrhactes seen from behind. To show the paired 

 supra-occipital, the exoccipital, and epiotic. 



Fig. 0. Pygostyle of a nestling Catarrhactes chrysocoine, showing the separate 

 vertebrae, which later fuse and make up the " pygostyle." 



3. Note on an Anthropoid Ape. By W. L. H. Duckworth, 

 M.A.J Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. 



[Eeceived December 13, 1898.] 



The specimen under consideration, which is an aged female, was 

 shipped to this country from the Graboon Eiver, West Coast of 

 Africa. In placing on record the results of the dissection of this 

 anthropomorphous ape, T am met with the difficulty of being 

 unable to refer to it with confidence as either a true Champanzee 

 {Anthropopithecus tror/loch/tes) or a genuine Gorilla {A. gorilla). 



In a communication to the section of General Zoology at the 

 International Congress recently held at (^"ambridge, I was able 

 only to mention the difficulty, and time did not allow of any 

 discussion on the subject. I have therefore ventured to return 

 to this in rather greater detail, and hope that I may be favoured 

 with some advice thereupon. 



I turn at once to the characters of our specimen, and, to 

 summarize these characters in the briefest manner, would note 

 the general size and bulk (stature nearly 1200 mm.). The loss, 

 consequent on the inadequate method of preservation employed, of 

 almost all the hair, shows that the colour of the skin is grey, with 

 black patches where the epidermis is retained, the face and the 

 dorsal aspects of digits being of the latter colour. The hip- and 

 knee-joints are much more extensible than in most specimens 

 of the Anthropoid Apes ; the bmbs and extremities are distinctly 

 slender. 



The ears are remarkably asymmetrical, the upper half of the 

 right ear being absent. This is probably the result of a bite ; a 

 simUar condition is present (on the same side) in a Chimpanzee in 

 the Zoological Museum at Leipzig. 



On its arrival the specimen was thought to be a female 

 Gorilla, the principal reasons, so far as I can ascertain, for the 

 opinion being the facts of its great bulk and the dark colour of the 

 face and extremities. But from the first time I saw it, I have had 

 misgiviugs about the correctness of this view, and these up to a 

 certain point have been strengthened by further observations. 



These doubts were raised by the following features presented by 

 the specimen : — 



1. The large size of the ear. — Gorillas have usually small ears. 



2. The comparative lack of supra-orbital prominence. — This is 



marked even in female Gorillas. 



