258 



FAUNA ANTIQUA SIVALENSIS. 



parts. We have not been so fortunate hitherto as to meet 

 with any other remain, comprising the anterior part of the 

 m.uzzle either of the npper or lower jaw.' We shall now 

 proceed to deduce the form of the deficient parts, and the 

 structure of the head generally, to the extent that may 

 be legitimately inferred from the data of which we are in 

 possession. 



Notwithstanding the singularly perfect condition of the 

 head, for an organic remain of such enormous size, we can- 

 not but regret the mutilation at the muzzle and vertex, as it 

 throws a doubt upon some very interesting points of structin-e 

 in the Sivatherium : 1st, the presence or absence of incisive 

 and canine teeth in the upper jaw, and their number and 

 character if present ; 2nd, the number and extent of the 

 bones which enter into the basis of the external nostrils ; 

 and 3rd, the presence or absence of two horns on the vertex, 

 besides the two infra- orbital ones. 



Regarding the first point, we have nothing sufficient to 

 guide us with certainty to a conclusion, as there are rumi- 

 nants both with and without incisives and canines in the 

 upper jaw ; and the Sivatheritmi differs most materially in 

 structure from both sections. But there are two conditions 

 of analogy which render it probable that there were no inci- 

 sives. First : in all ruminants which have the molars in 

 a contiguous and normal series, and which have horns on 

 the brow, there are no incisive teeth. In the Camel and its 

 congeners, where the anterior molar is unsymmetrical and 

 separated from the rest of the series by an interval, incisives 

 are present in the upper jaw. The Sivatherium had horns, 

 and its molars were in a contiguous series ; it is therefore pro- 

 bable that it had no incisives. Regarding the canines there 

 is no clue to a conjecture, as there are species in the same 

 genus of ruminants both with and without them. Second : 

 the extent and connections of the incisive bones are points 

 of great interest, ft-om the kind of development which they 

 imply in the soft parts appended to them. 



' In a note received from Captain 

 Cautley, while this paper is in the press, 

 that gentleman mentions the discovery 

 of a portion of the skeleton of a Siva- 

 therium in another part of the hills : see 

 Journ/il As. Soc, vol. iv. ' During my re- 

 cent fripto the Sewaliks near thePinjore 

 valley, the field of Messrs. Baker and 

 Diirand's labours, I regretted much my 

 inability to obtain the dimensions of one 

 of the most superb fossils I suppose 

 that ever was found. It was unfortu- 

 nately discovered and excavated by a 



party of workpeople employed by a gen- 

 tleman with whom I was imacqiiainted, 

 and although I saw the fossil when in 

 the rock, I was prevented from getting 

 the measurements afterwards. This 

 specimen consisted of the femur and 

 tibia,with the tarsal, metatarsal, and pha- 

 langes of our Sivatherium.' It is much 

 to be regretted that such an opportunity 

 should have been lost of adding to the 

 information already acquired of thi.s new 

 and gigantic Ruminant. — [J. Prinsep, 

 Sec. As. Soc] 



