4 TYPE OF THE EOSSIL CETACEAN AGOROPHIUS PYGMiEUS 



Not long afterward the specimen came to the attention of Prof. L. Agassiz, 

 who arranged to have the plate prepared which accompanies this notice.^ The 

 name "Phocodon holmesii Agass." appears to have been placed on the plate when 

 first made. So far as I am aware, it did not appear in print elsewhere until 

 mentioned by Leidy in a list of synonyms of '' Squalodon pygmoBus" in 1869.^ 



In 1867 Cope referred the specimen to the genus Dorudon Gibbes (1845), an 

 ally of Basilosaurus;' but in 1868 concluded that it did not belong to the former,* 

 remarking that it was " not only generically distinct from Basilosaurus, but from 

 Doryodon also." About this time Leidy obtained a loan of the specimen from 

 Professor Holmes, and upon examination of it decided to refer it to Squalodon, 

 under the name of Squalodon pygmceus. He published an excellent description 

 and two figures of it in his work on the Extinct Mammalian Fauna of Dakota 

 and Nebraska, already cited.® 



Finally, in 1895, Cope, confirming his earlier opinion that the specimen rep- 

 resented a distinct genus, gave it the name of Agorophius,^ remarking at the 

 same time: "The form of the skull in this genus approaches distinctly that of 

 Cetotherium of the Balsenidse, and the permanent loss of the teeth would probably 

 render it necessary to refer it to a Mystacocete." 



This idea did not originate with Cope. Paul Gervais wrote in 1871 : "It is 

 in connection with the rorquals {a la suite des rorquals), and not among the 

 Squalodons, that it is necessary to class Squalodon pygmceus. The form of this 

 skull is quite similar to that of the rorquals, and it differs, on the contrary, from 

 that which characterizes the Squalodons, if one take as an example of the latter 

 the Squalodon of Baiue, in the museum of Lyons."'' 



As this suggestion is one of great moment, the specimen has a twofold 

 interest and importance — first as representing a very distinct genus, and, second, 

 as representing a possible direct ancestor of the whalebone whales. 



In view of the excellent character of the figures published by Leidy, it would 

 at first appear that no more were necessary, but a number of considerations 

 led me to recommend that the earlier plate by Professor Agassiz be now pub- 

 lished. Most important of all is the fact that the unique specimen which it 

 portrays appears to have been lost. So far as I have been able to ascertain, it 



' "■Phocodon, Agassiz. Prof. A. will soon publish a complete memoir on this genus found in the United 

 States, in which will be given the result of his personal observations drawn from large collections of remains." 

 (Note by Wyman in Amer. Jour. Sci., 10, 1850, p. 230, foot-note.) 



'Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., (2), 7, 1869, p. 420. 



' Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1867, p. 155. Cope altered the spelling to Doryodon. 



*lbid., 1868, p. 186. 



6 Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., (2), 7, 1869, p. 420, pi. 29, figs. 7, 8. 



«Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc, 34, 1895, p. 139. 



'Nouv. Archiv. Mas. Hist. Nat. Paris, 7, 1871, p. 138. 



