Vol. 50.J FAUNA FROM THE IGHTHAM FISSURE. 201 



having a similar form, are referred to this species, as well as a single 

 upper canine tooth larger than that of the polecat. As it is desirable 

 that this new form should have a name, I have called it Must da 

 robusta. 



Mustela vulgaris, var. minuta. (Small Weasel.) PI. XI. figs. 19, 

 20. — A small, right mandibular ramus, with most of the teeth in 

 place, is certainly that of a Mtistela, and although smaller than any 

 specimen of M. vulgaris with which I have been able to compare it. 

 would correspond with the smallest skull of this species measured 

 by Hensel. 1 Two adult tibiae, with epiphyses firmly ankylosed, and 

 agreeing with those of the common weasel in every particular except 

 size, are included with the lower jaw as a small variety of Mustela 

 vulgaris, which is the smallest known carnivor. These tibiae are each 

 18'5 millim. long, which is nearly one third shorter than that of 

 an ordinary-sized weasel, and a little less than that figured by 

 "Woldfich - as Fcetorius minutus, or than would correspond with the 

 mandibular ramus above mentioned. The weasel has been recorded 

 from Caves ; besides being a native of Britain, it is generally distri- 

 buted throughout Europe, extending into Northern Eussia and over 

 a large part of Siberia. 



Meles taxus ? (Badger.) — Several bones of a very young animal, 

 without epiphyses, are believed to be those of a badger, but I have 

 been unable to compare them with a similarly young recent speci- 

 men, and the determination is therefore uncertain. This species 

 has already been found in Caves and Pleistocene river-deposits in 

 Britain ; it now ranges over the whole of Europe, including Britain, 

 from the Mediterranean northward, beyond 60° of north latitude. 



Ursus arctos ? (Brown Bear.) PL XII. fig. 10. — The metacarpal 

 of a bear, which has the proximal articulation destroyed, is all that 

 has been found of this genus. In size and form this bone agrees best 

 with the fifth metacarpal, left side, of Ursus arctos, but the specific 

 determination is not quite certain. The brown bear has been found 

 in Pleistocene deposits, and, although extinct in Britain, is now living 

 throughout Europe and Asia, extending even into North America. 

 It ranges southward to the Pyrenees and northward nearly to 70° 

 of north latitude. 



Hyama crocuta I (Spotted Hysen a.) Pl.XII.fig.il. — Although 

 several bones have been found evidently gnawed by Hyarna^ especially 

 a humerus of Rhinoceros, of which only the middle of the shaft 

 remains, yet the sole direct evidence of the genus is a single much 

 denuded canine tooth, which is not sufficient for specific identification. 

 Hyama crocuta has been found in the Eorest Bed, Pleistocene river- 

 deposits, and Caves ; it is now confined to Africa, south of the Sahara. 



Canis vulpes. (Common Fox.) PI. XII. figs. 1-4. — The Ightham 

 fissure has yielded numerous bones of foxes, representing nearly 



1 Nova Acta Acad. Leop.-Carol. vol. xlii. (1881) p. 125. 



- Denkschr. d. k. Akad. d. Wissensch. Wien, vol. lx. (1893) p. 614. 



Q. J. G. S. No. 198. p 



