189: 



BLUE BEAR OF TIBET. 



423 



they approach ia size, these specimens diiier very remarkably. 

 Taking the half-gro^\^l and sub-adult specimens (the latter of 

 which is here figured, figs. 3 & 4), it will be found that the profile 

 forms a continuous couycx arch, almost like that of V. torcptatus, 

 although the skull is much longer than in the latter. The dift'erence 

 is also observable in the fully adult specimen, in which there is no 

 trace of the concavit}^ at the root of the nasals so conspicuous in 

 the Kamschatkan Bear. The palate (fig. 4) is also peculiar on 

 account of its extreme elongation and narrowness, the pterygoid 

 fossa being narrower and not extending so far forwards. The 

 pterygoids themselves are also very different bones, being much 

 larger and of a distinctly oblong form. The premaxilla), too, 



Palatal aspect of skull of Ursus ardm i/esoensis. 



extend farther back on the palate, reaching behind the alveolus of 

 the canine, instead of stopping short near the middle line of that 

 tooth. The fourth lower premolar is very short, with scarcely 

 any inner tubercles, the hinder of which is well marked in the 

 Kamschatkan Bear. So far as I can see, these peculiarities are 

 constant in all three skulls. 



Compared with Dr. Merriam's figure of the sub-adult skull of the 



