118 



DOMESTIC RABBITS. 



Chap. IV. 



Fig. 8. — Part of Zygomatic Arch, showing the 

 projecting end of the malar hone and the 

 auditory meatus: of natural size. Upper 

 figure, Wild Rabbit. Lower figure, Lop- 

 eared, hare-coloured Rabbit. 



posterior margin of "the square raised platform " 25 of the occiput, instead 

 of being truncated, or projecting slightly as in the wild rabbit, is in most 



lop-eared rabbits pointed, as in fig. 9, 0. 

 The paramastoids relatively to the size 

 of the skull are generally much thicker 

 than in the wild rabbit. 



The occipital foramen (fig. 10) presents 

 some remarkable differences: in the 

 wild rabbit, the lower edge between the 

 condyles is considerably and almost 

 angularly hollowed out, and the upper 

 edge is deeply and squarely notched; 

 hence the longitudinal axis exceeds the 

 transverse axis. In the skulls of the 

 lop-eared rabbits the transverse axis 

 exceeds the longitudinal; for in none 

 of these skulls was the lower edge be- 

 tween the condyles so deeply hollowed 

 out ; in five of them there was no upper 

 square notch, in three there was a trace 

 of the notch, and in two alone it was well 

 developed. These differences in the shape of the foramen are remarkable, 

 considering that it gives passage to so important a structure as the spinal 

 ABC marrow, though apparently the 



outline of the latter is not affected 

 by the shape of the passage. 



iiaf Wm( T^ltf In all the skulls of the large 



lop-eared rabbits, the bony au- 

 ditory meatus is conspicuously 

 larger than in the wild rabbit. 

 In a skull 4'3 inches in length, 

 and which barely exceeded in 

 breadth the skull of a wild rabbit 

 (which was 3"15 inches in length), 

 the longer diameter of the meatus was exactly twice as great. The orifice 

 is more compressed, and its margin on the side nearest the skull stands up 

 a b higher than the outer side. The 



whole meatus is directed more 

 forwards. As in breeding lop- 

 eared rabbits the length of the 

 ears, and their consequent lop- 

 ping and lying flat on the face, 

 are the chief points of excellence, 

 there can hardly be a doubt that 

 the great change in the size, 

 form, and direction of the bony meatus, relatively to this same part in 

 the wild rabbit, is due to the continued selection of individuals having 



Fig. 9. — Posterior end of skull, of natural size, showing 

 the inter-parietal bone. A. Wild Rabbit. B. Feral 

 Rabbit from island of P. Santo, near Madeira. 

 C. Large Lop-eared Rabbit. 



Fig. 10.— Occipital Foramen, of natural size, in — 

 A. Wild Rabbit; B. Large Lop-eared Rabbit. 



25 Waterhouse, ' Nat. Hist. Mammalia,' vol. ii. p. 36. 



