G 



VEKTEBKATA. 



tative of the Insectivores, so far as known, is a Hedgehog discovered in 

 the Auvergne beds, between the Eocene and Miocene in age. The cav- 

 erns and Pleistocene strata of England afford numerous remains ; but, 

 with one exception, they offer no specific difference from the common 

 Mole, Hedgehog, and Shrew. None of the frugivorous Bats have been 

 observed fossil. The species that have left remains in the ancient de- 

 posits belong to the family Vesper •tilionidse, which first appeared in the 

 Eocene. According to Owen, " no remains of Bats have hitherto been 

 found which establish the former existence of any species not now known 

 to exist." 



No. 6. Machairodus neogseus, Kaup. 



Head, mounted. This, happily extinct and most formidable of Carni- 

 vores, belonged to a genus which in Tertiary times ranged throughout South 

 America, India and Europe. Professor Owen finds its nearest affinities in 

 the Lion. It equalled the Bengal Tiger in size, and had upper canines of thrice 

 the length — the crown alone measuring 7 inches. The canines of the M. are, in 

 fact, the most remarkable of all the fossil teeth of large carnivorous Mammals 

 that have been discovered ; they are long, curved, and compressed, and, provided 

 with a double-cutting edge of serrated enamel, resemble trenchant sabres, whence 

 the generic name. There is a depression on the outside of each ramus of the 

 lower jaw to receive the upper canines when the mouth is closed. Both sets 

 of teeth are finely preserved in the specimen. The specimen is identical with 

 Hyaena neogwa of Lund, and Felts smihdon of Blainville. The original, discov- 

 ered in a bone cavern in Brazil, is in the Museum of the Garden of Plants, Paris. 



Size, 14x13. Price, $12.00. 



