PETERSON: A REVISION OF THE ENTELODONTIDA 43 
Famity ENTELODONTID LypexKxer.?® 
The characters of this group of mammals from the Oligocene and Miocene for- 
mations of both the Old and New Worlds amply justified Lydekker (58b), Marsh 
(64, p. 408), and Scott (87, p. 822) in placing them in a separate family. ‘The com- 
bination of the primitive bunodont dental structure with the highly modified limbs 
and feet gives to this group an unusual and quite unique appearance. 
Hamily Characters: Teeth bunodont. Muzzle long; cranium short. Limbs 
elongated ; feet didactyl. 
Genus ENTELODON Aymard. 
There has been much confusion both in Europe and America regarding the pri- 
ority of the names Hntelodon Aymard and Elotheriwm Pomel. Quite recently Miss 
Lucy P. Bush, who was one of Professor Marsh’s assistants, wrote an article (4, pp. 
97-98) which stimulated inquiry as to these two names. After carefully looking 
over the literature, it is quite plain that Aymard’s paper on Entelodon, though per- 
haps written in 1846, was not published until late in 1847 or during the year 1848. 
The most conclusive evidence of this fact is found on page 247 of Vol. XII, of the 
Annales de la Société d’ Agriculture, des Sciences, et de Commerce du Puy for 1842— 
1846, or on p. 23 in the reprint of this article. On these pages of Aymard’s paper is 
a foot-note correctly referring to page 385 of the Bulletin de la Société Geologique 
de France, Vol. 1V, which was published late in 1847; consequently Aymard’s 
paper could not have been published in 1846. Pomel’s description of Elotheriwm 
on the other hand was apparently published in 1847; but, in the first place, the 
type was rather inadequate, judging from Pomel’s article; secondly, there is not in 
Pomel’s paper, or elsewhere, any illustration of the specimen; and, thirdly, I am 
informed that the type is lost. These facts collectively should, in the mind of the 
writer, exclude the use of the name “ Elotheriwm” especially since Aymard’s article 
on Kntelodon is accompanied with good illustrations of satisfactory types. ‘There 
was apparently not a great lapse of time between the appearance of the two publi- 
ations, and it may yet possibly be established that Pomel’s description was also 
delayed and not published before Aymard’s paper actually appeared. 
Principal Generic Characters of Entelodon: Upper and lower premolars relatively 
‘The family name Lntelodontide was apparently first used by Lydekker in 1883 (53b, p. 146), while Edward 
Richard Alston in the Zodlogical Record for 1876, p. 18, refers to Parahyus vagans, Helohyus, and ‘ Elotherium ”’ under 
the caption Elotheriidx, without any further note or comment. 
‘Inquiries made by Dr. W. J. Holland while recently in France reveal the fact that the type of Elotherium is 
lost. Professor Marcellin Boule, in a letter to Director Holland, states that he is under the impression that no 
one, except Pomel himself, ever saw the type. In this connection it is quite significant that in the Catalogue of Verte- 
brate Fossils in the British Museum, which acquired Pomel’s collection, no mention is made of the type of Elotherium. 
