834 ON REMAINS OF CYON FROM SARDINIA. [Dec. 4, 



Canidee, Winge pointing out, moreover, transitional forms between 

 both. 



With regard to Lycaon and Cyon, their closer relation with each 

 other than with Canis, as shown by the skull and dentition, is a very 

 striking fact and can scarcely be regarded as a mere parallelism. 

 Huxley observes (P. Z. S. 1880, p. 276) that " in the breadth of the 

 premolar region of the upper jaw, and in a more or less marked 

 convexity of the facial contour, Lycaon strongly reminds one of 

 Cyon;" whilst Mivart shows that Lycaon agrees with Cyon in 

 havinglarge incisive foramina and strongly sigmoid external margins 

 of the nasals (A Monograph of the Canidfe, p. 196, 1890). 

 Nehring was aware (Sitzungsber. naturf. Freunde, 1890, p. 20) 

 that the lower carnassial of Lycaon agrees with Icticyon and Cyon 

 in its unicuspid talon. A similar agreement exists with regard to 

 the lower m 2, which in Lycaon is quite as reduced in form as in 

 several lower jaws of Cyon. In the former, this tooth has two roots ; 

 but this condition also occurs quite as often in Cyon as the presence 

 of only one root. The lower m 3 reappears very rarely in Cyon (Van 

 der Hoeven) ; conversely in one of the five skulls of Lycaon in the 

 Natural History Museum this tooth is missing. In the upper jaw, 

 m 1 of Lycaon is reduced almost to the extent of Cyon, and m 2 is 

 also reduced more than in Canis. Therefore, in my opinion, 

 Lycaon and Cyon are much more closely allied than has hitherto 

 been supposed. 



The first recorded Pleistocene Carnivore of this Canine type is 

 Studiati's Cynotherium sardoum (1857), from the ossiferous breccia 

 of Bonaria near Cagliari, well described by Studiati, who, however, 

 was not aware of its affinities with Cyon. These were pointed out 

 by myself in 1872. and later on (1877) corroborated by figuring 

 some of Studiati's specimens side by side with Canine remains of 

 the ordinary type. 



The specimens from the two Sardinian localities agree with Cyon 

 bourreti Harle, from the cave of Malarnaud (Ariege, France), in 

 the conformation of the lower posterior premolar (p 1), which is 

 the same as in the recent species of Cyon ; whereas the same tooth 

 of Cyon europasus Bourg., from caves of the Maritime Alps and 

 Moravia, exhibits a strongly developed anterior basal cusp, which 

 is a characteristic feature of Lycaon, and therefore acquires ad- 

 ditional interest in connection with the above remarks on the 

 relationship of both genera. "With each other the Sardinian fossils 

 agree in the absence of the lower anterior premolar (p 4) and in 

 the presence of a diastema between p 2 and p 3. These two 

 characters are certainly of specific, but not of generic value. As I 

 formerly pointed out, the establishment of a separate genus, Cyno- 

 therium, appears to be unnecessary ; the characters upon which 

 Studiati insisted for generic distinction are those of Cyon and 

 Lycaon. Pending more complete materials, the latter genus may 

 be excluded on account of the conformation of the lower p 1 

 and of the more slender build of the teeth generally. The present 

 Sardinian Carnivore will accordingly have to be known as Cyon 



