NOVEMBKB 20, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



607 



scriptiou by M. ilanellin Boulc* (who has now 

 succeeded Professor Gaudry as professor of 

 paleontology in the Natural History iluseum 

 of Paris) of a large example of the Lower 

 Eocene creodont Pachywna of the family 

 ilesonychidiB. This is the second example of 

 this family found in France, and it strength- 

 ens the proofs of the close relation which ex- 

 isted between northern Europe and North 

 America in the Lower Eocene period. The 

 animal is slightly larger than the Dissacus 

 saurognathus of Wortman. 



Lower Oligocene Fauna. — Under the title 

 ' Les Vertcbres Oligoeenes de Pyrimont-Chal- 

 longes (Savoie)'f MM. Deperet and H. Doux- 

 ami contribute an extensive memoir of ninety 

 pages on the Lower Oligocene of Savoy. The 

 rhinoceroses are represented by a new type, 

 R. asphaltense, which the authors consider 

 allied to the American Diceratherium. It is 

 characterized by a very long skull; the nasals, 

 although separate distally, bear a rudimentary 

 pair of terminal horns; the forefoot retains a 

 reduced fifth digit, whereas the American 

 forms are strictly tridactyl. It is shown that 

 the classic R. minutus of Cuvier is exclusively 

 Oligocene. A new genus of tapir, Parata- 

 pirus, is also described, in which the internal 

 lobes of the superior molars are completely 

 separated. The memoir concludes with a 

 valuable review of localities where a contem- 

 poraneous fauna is found in various parts of 

 France. 



SOUTH AMERICAN MAMMALS. 



Glyptodonts. — Professor Henry F. Osborn 

 has recently described the complete carapace 

 of a new genus of glyptodont, Gbjptothcrium. 

 discovered in Texas by one of the Whitney 

 expeditions under Mr. Gidley. It presents a 

 curious combination of ])rimitive and progres- 

 sive characters. 



Mr. Barnum Brown deseribesij: a new genus 



* ' Le Pachycrna de Vaiigirard,' ' A/cmoircs de 

 la SocUti Giol. de France, No. 28, Tome X., 

 fascicule 4. 



t'M^moires de la Socifit*; PalContologique 

 Suisse,' Vol. XXIX., 1002. 



+ ' A New Species of Fossil Edentate from the 

 Santa Cruz Formation of Patagonia.' Bull. Anier. 

 Mu.s. Nat. Uist., Vol. XIX., 1903, pp. 453-^57. 



and species of primitive glyptodont, Eucine- 

 peltiis cnmplicalus, found on the Kio Gallegos 

 by the American Museum of Natural History 

 expedition of 1898. It is distinguished by the 

 structure of the teeth and by the pitting of 

 the plates on the cephalic shield, characters 

 which are illustrated by a number of figures. 

 Armadillos. — The ' Reports of the Prince- 

 ton University E.xpeditions to Patagonia, 

 1896-1899, in charge of J. B. Hatcher,' are 

 now appearing rapidly under the editorship 

 of Professor William B. Scott. Volume 5 

 opens with Part I., No. I., of Scott's Memoir 

 entitled 'Mammalia of the Santa Cruz Beds," 

 and is devoted to the Dasypoda or armadillo3 

 of the Santa Cruz, which are fully described, 

 and richly illustrated in sixteen plates. It is 

 impossible to do justice to this very important 

 memoir, which contains not only much needed 

 systematic revision, but the enunciation of 

 many impoi-tant biological principles and full 

 anatomical descriptions. The Edentata are 

 regarded as a separate subclass divided into 

 the armadillos, glyptodonts, ground sloths, 

 tree sloths, anteaters, pangolins and aard 

 varks. The Santa Cruz armadillos, as a 

 whole, are very unlike the modern representa- 

 tives of the suborder, rarely appearing ances- 

 tral to existing forms; it is certainly rather 

 disappointing not to find any direct fore- 

 runners of the existing South American types. 

 The author concludes that the lin3s of evolu- 

 tion which ended in recent genera must have 

 taken place in some other region of the South 

 American continent, doubtless the same region 

 as that which gave rise to the true sloths and 

 the anteaters, no trace of the latter two types 

 having yet been found in the Santa Cruz beds. 

 The usual systematic treatment is rendered 

 difficult by the extraordinary variability of 

 these animals. Most of them are of relatively 

 small size. Although of great geological age, 

 fully developed carapaces are found in both 

 the armadillos and glyptodonts. The teeth 

 are devoid of enamel, rootless and tubular, no 

 traces of milk dentition having been observed. 

 Altogether, they present a high degree of 

 specialization, and in some instances, as in 

 the reduction of the dentition in Stego- 



