^^^* 550 OF THE E0CK-FISST7RE AT IGHTHAM. 421 



11. Leptjs vaeiabilis, Pallas. 



In my earlier paper the remains of hares from the Ightham fissure 

 were referred to the common European hare Lepus timidus (=Z. 

 £uroj)ceus), on account of the breadth of the iliac bones and the 

 general stoutness of the limb-bones. Many additional specimens 

 have now been obtained, showing similar robust proportions, and 

 among them the maxillae of two individuals which exhibit dental 

 characters more in agreement with those of L. variabilis than with 

 those of L. europceus. The robustness of the limb-bones still seems 

 to agree best with the proportions found in the last-named species, 

 even when allowance is made for the variations to be seen among 

 recent forms. The peculiarities of the teeth, however, have led me 

 to re-examine the specimens, and to modify my opinion as to the 

 affinities of some of the remains of these fossil hares. 



A pair of maxillae and a single right maxilla are proved to belong 

 to hares and not to rabbits, by the wide posterior palatine vacuity 

 and by the small extent to which the palatine bones enter into the 

 formation of the transpalatine bar. 



The anterior cheek-tooth of both these specimens shows the deep 

 notch on the inner side, like that found in Lepus variabilis but not 

 in L. europmus. The upper incisors of L. earopceus have more 

 strongly-marked grooves than those of L. variabilis, and they are 

 not quite so near the inner margins. Two upper incisors from 

 the Ightham fissure resemble in these respects the incisors of 

 L. variabilis. 



There are some points in the structure of the limb-bones of hares 

 to which attention must be directed. The femur of L. europceus 

 has the ridge for the insertion of the psoas and iliacus-muscles, 

 which is seen on the hinder aspect of the bone a little below the 

 articular head, very oblique and extending only a short way beyond 

 the level of the lesser trochanter ; in L. variabilis this ridge is less 

 oblique, and it extends farther down the shaft. The head of the 

 humerus of L. europceus, when viewed from above, is found to be 

 rounder than in L. variabilis, being in the latter more elongated 

 from before backward and tending to become parallel-sided. The 

 ulna of L. europceus is broader and flatter at about the middle of its 

 length than is the case with the same part in L. variabilis. Most 

 of the femora, humeri, and ulnae of the hares from the fissure agree 

 in these particulars with L. variabilis rather than with L. europceus ; 

 and as the dental characters point in the same direction, I am 

 inclined to refer the greater number of these remains to L. variabilis, 

 notwithstanding the robustness of the bones, which seemed at first 

 to favour their reference to the common European form. 



The bones of large hares from the Somerset caves described by 

 Mr. W. A. Sanford ' under the name of L. diluvianus, and those 

 from Zuzlawitz described by Dr. Woldfich^ as L. variabilis, seem to 

 he specifically identical with those from Ightham. I prefer to 



1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxvi (1870) p. 126. 



2 Sitzungsb. d. k. Akad. d. Wissensch. Wien, vol. Ixxxii, Abtb. i (1880) p. 11. 



