1900.] emYPOTSERiUM (neomylodon*) listai. 75 



the Pleistocene formations of tbe temperate parts of the Old World 

 indicate animals of somewhat larger size than any surviving in the 

 warmer regions to which the species is now confined 1 . 



It may be noted that bones of the Jaguar of ordinary dimensions 

 have been recorded from the Pampa formation of the Province of 

 Buenos Ayres '"'. 



Arctotherium, sp. 



With the bones of Felis just noticed, Both provisionally 

 associates the imperfect distal end of a remarkably large right 

 femur (no. 45). He is thus induced to suppose that the carnivore 

 represented by the fragments will prove to be a new genus and 

 species of the Pelidae. He suggests for it the name of lemisch 

 listai, on the assumption that it is the mysterious quadruped which 

 Ameghino states is known to the natives as the lemisch. 



A comparison of the distal end of femur in question with the 

 femora of Pelidae in the British Museum seems to prove con- 

 clusively that it cannot be referred even to the same family. Its 

 width across the condyles is much greater, compared with its 

 antero-posterior diameter, than that observed in any feline. More- 

 over, the pit for the tendon of the popliteus muscle below the 

 external condyle is unusually deep. In both these respects the bone 

 closely resembles the distal end of the femur of a Bear. I have 

 been therefore led to compare it with the corresponding part of 

 the extinct Bear of the Pampean formation, Arctotherium. 



Fortunately, the fine and nearly complete skeleton of Arcto- 

 therium bonaerense in the Bravard Collection in the British Museum 

 comprises the right femur and enables direct comparison to be 

 made. The fragment (PL IX. figs. 3, 3 a) lacks the inner condyle ; 

 but enough of the trochlea remains to show its broad and gently- 

 rounded form, with a wide and deep intertrochlear notch, precisely 

 as in Arctotherium. It has the same development; of the external 

 condyle as in the latter, while the fossa for the popliteal tendon is 

 equally deep, only slightly differing in shape. In fact, there is 

 very little discrepancy, except in its smaller size ; and species of 

 Arctotherium smaller than A. bonaerense are already known both 

 from the Pampa formation of Argentina 3 and the caverns of 

 Brazil \ 



The fragment just described has evidently been severed from 

 the rest of the bone by a sharp, clean cut made by man ; and 

 Dr. Hauthal is quite certain that this was not done by one of his 

 workmen during excavation (op. cit.ip. 59). At least one medium- 



1 Dawkins & Sanford, " The British Pleistocene Mammalia " (Palseont. Soc. 

 1869), p. 150. 



2 F. Ameghino, ' Contribucion al Conocimiento de los Mamiferos de la 

 Republica Argentina ' (1889), p. 342. 



3 F. Ameghino, op. cit. (1889), p. 317. 



1 H. Winge, " Jordfundne og nulevende Rovdyr (Oarnivora) f'ra Lago;v 

 Santa, Minas Geraes, Brasilien " (E Museo Lundii, 1895), p. 31 . 



