PROTELEIDL 539 
small size of the teeth (Fig. 243), in consequence of which it was, 
when first discovered, placed in the order Insectivora. Dentition : 
23,c4,p4, m2; total 40. Vertebre: C7, D13,L7,8 3, C 20. 
No  alisphenoid 
canal ; an entepi- 
condylar _fora- 
men to the hum- 
erus. But one 
species is known, 
E. goudoti. 
Extinct Gen- 
erd.—The Ter- 
Fic. 243.—Skull of Eupleres goudoti. + natural size. 
Mus. Roy. Coll. Surgeons. 
tiaries of the Old 
World have 
yielded several genera allied to the existing Viverroids, some of 
which show decided signs of affinity with other families. Of these 
the Lower Miocene 4mphictis appears to be nearly related to Viverra, 
but is distinguished by the form of the second lower molar, which is 
longer and has two distinct roots. Paleoprionodon, of the French 
Phosphorites, has a dentition very like that of Prionodon, the molars 
being reduced to $; the skull has an alisphenoid canal and the 
general basal characters of the /iverride, but resembles the Justelide 
in the presence of a glenoid foramen and in the position of the 
condylar foramen. In Stensplesictis, of the same deposits, the dental 
formula is 7 3, ¢ 4, p 4, m2; and although the skull has a complete 
septum in the bulla, yet some of the cranial and dental features ap- 
proximate so decidedly towards those of the extinct J/ustelide, as to 
lead some authorities to refer the genus to that family. The most 
probable explanation of this resemblance is that the Musteloids 
have originated from generalised Viverroids allied to Stenoplesictis. 
The Lower Pliocene Ictitherium differs from all other Viverroids in 
the presence of three distinct lobes to the upper carnassial, and 
thereby connects the other members of the family so closely with 
the Hyenide that it is practically impossible to draw up a defini- 
tion which will distinguish the two families. 
The North American Eocene genera Jfiacis and Didymictis are 
generally regarded as representing a separate family—.lJiacide— 
with affinities both to the Viverride and Canide. 
Family PROTELEID-£. 
Skull with no alisphenoid canal; and the auditory bulla divided 
into two distinct chambers. Dorsal vertebre 15. Molars+. Pre- 
molar and molar teeth very small and simple in character. 
Proteles.\—This genus contains but a single species, P. cristatus, 
1 Geoffroy, Wem. du Muséum, vol. xi. p. 354 (1824). 
