316 DK. A. SMITH "WOODWARD OX THE [Dec. I914, 



13. On the Lower Jaw of an Axthropoid Ape {Dryopithecus) 

 from the Upper Miocexe of Lerida (Spaix). By Arthvii 

 Smith Woodward, LL.D., F.K.S., Pres. G.S. (Bead April 

 29th, 1914.) 



[Plate XLIY.] 



Eemaixs of the Anthropoid Apes are so rare among fossils, that 

 every new specimen is worthy of special description and discussion. 

 I therefore offer to the Society some account of the fourth known 

 example of the mandible of Dryopithecus fontani, which has 

 been kindly lent to me by Prof. Luis M. Tidal, of Barcelona. It 

 was found by Senor Jose Colominas near Seo de Urgel, Province 

 of Lerida (Spain), in a deposit usually ascribed to the Upper 

 Miocene ; and. as already observed by Prof. Vidal, 1 the specimen is 

 of unusual interest, on account of its occurrence in association with 

 the Hippo rion fauna. The jaws of the same species previously 

 discovered in France. 2 are from Middle Miocene formations ; while 

 the only traces of the great Apes of a later date hitherto found 

 in Europe are a few teeth from the Bohnerz of \Yiirtemberg 

 and the well-known femur from the Sands of Eppelsheim (Hesse- 

 Darmstadt). 



The new specimen (PI. XLIY) comprises the greater part of 

 the left mandibular ramus and the lower half of the symphysis, 

 with the three molars well preserved and the roots of the fourth 

 premolar broken in the socket. The pattern of the molars and 

 the steepness of the symphysis determine the generic position of 

 the fossil ; while the proportions of the bone and the characters of 

 the molar teeth are so closely similar to those of the specimens of 

 D. font a id from the type-locality, that (as already recognized by 

 Prof. Tidal) it can only be referred to this species. The outer 

 cusps of the molars are more worn than the inner cusps in the usual 

 Ape-fashion (PI. XLIY, fig. 1) ; and each antero-external cusp 

 (protoconid) is flanked by the short cingulum characteristic of the 

 genus (PI. XLIY, fig. 3). The enamel is perfectly smooth, and 

 the only crimping that might produce a small secondary cusp occurs 

 between the two inner cusps on the third molar. The first molar 



1 L. M. Yidal, 'Nota sobre la Presencia del Dryopithecus en el Mioceno 

 Superior del Pirineo Catalan ' Bol. R. Soc. Espan. Hist. Nat. 1913, pp. 499- 

 507. 



2 E.Lartet, 'Note sur un Grand Singe Fossile qui se rattache au Groupe des 

 Singes Superieurs ' C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, vol. xliii (1856) pp. 219-23, with 

 plate ; A. Gaudry, ' Le Dryopitheque ' Mem. Soc. Geol. France, Paleont. No. 1 

 (1890) pp. 1-11 & pi. i; E. Harle, ' TJne Machoire de Dryopitheque ' Bull. 

 Soc. Geol. France, ser. 3, vol. xxvi (1898) pp. 377-83, and 'Nouvelles 

 Pieces de Dryopitheque & quelques Coquilles, de Saint-Gaudens (Haute- 

 Garonne) ' Ibid., vol. xxvii (1899) pp. 304-310 & pi. iv. For notes on teeth of 

 Dryopithecus, see also O. Abel, : Zwei Neue Menschenaffen aus den Leitha- 

 kalkbildungen des Wiener Beckens ' Sitzungsb. k. Akad. "Wissensch. Wien, 

 Math.-Naturw. CI. vol. cxi, sect, i (1902) pp. 1171-1207, with plate. 



