Mai'sh Collection, Peabody Museum. 



149 



Dentition. — With the exception of a single isolated tooth 

 which apparently belongs to the upper series, the incisors are 

 not preserved in any of the three specimens, but the bases of 

 the alveoli for those of the lower jaw can be indistinctly made 

 out. They were three in number and arranged apparently as 

 in the Paradoxnres, without having the second one pushed 

 back out of line, as is frequently found in the Canidse and 

 some Viverridse. The canine, figure 22, is relatively large, 

 high, pointed, and recurved ; there is a faint vertical external 

 groove, and a broader shallow one upon the internal face of 

 the crown ; on the posterior and external surface is an exten- 

 sive worn area, where the tooth impinged upon its fellow of 

 the upper series. 



Figure 22 — Left lower jaw of Oodect es herpestoides "Wortman; outside view; 

 three times natural size. (Cotype.) 



The premolars are four in number, with rather short, stout, 

 thick crowns, having more or less of a tendency towards the 

 development of strong internal cingula and cusps, as seen both 

 in the Paradoxures and Herpestinge. The first is small, single- 

 rooted, with an obtusely-pointed crown directed well forwards 

 like the corresponding tooth in Herpestes griseus, and sepa- 

 rated from the canine by a short interval. The second is 

 abruptly larger, two-rooted, and has a small, indistinct poste- 

 rior basal cusp. The third and fourth are still larger; their 

 crowns are relatively thick, with obtuse points and inconspicu- 

 ous anterior and posterior basal cusps ; there are no posterior 

 accessory cusps present, except a slight indication of one in the 

 last premolar, as in Herpestes, to which the series of teeth, 

 including the canine, bears a very striking resemblance. 



The molars show many peculiarities for a Carnivore, and at 

 first glance might indeed be readily mistaken for an Insecti- 



