J. B. Hatcher — Recent and Fossil Tapirs. 165 



In Protapirus, the anterior border of the posterior nares is 

 opposite the middle of m. 2. The pterygoids are slightly bifid 

 and rather strong. The post-glenoid foramen, foramen lace- 

 rum medium and foramen lacerum posterius are confluent, 

 much as in recent Tapirs. The petrosal is deeply inserted. 

 The tympanic is not present in our specimen ; it probably was of 

 the nature of that element in recent Tapirs, in which, accord- 

 ing to Parker,* it is small, and does not become ankylosed to 

 the surrounding bones, so that it is usually lost in the process 

 of maceration, and rarely seen in dry skulls. I have never 

 seen it, although I have examined about fifty skulls. The for- 

 amen ovale is in the alisphenoid, at the base of the pterygoid. 



The teeth : The incisors are wanting and only the roots of 

 the canines are present ; they indicate that this tooth was rather 

 small. The crown of pm. 1 is gone from both sides, and the 

 roots indicate that there was a considerable individual varia- 

 tion in the size of this tooth. In the present specimen, the 

 one on the left side was much the larger, and was fixed in the 

 jaw by two roots ; while that on the right was quite small, and 

 had only one root. The succeeding superior premolars gradu- 

 ally increase in size, from before backwards ; they all have 

 external, and anterior and posterior basal cingula, and anterior 

 and posterior cross-crests. The internal cone of pm. 4 shows 

 a shallow, median groove, on its inner surface ; an indication 

 of division, which is absent in puis. 2 and 3. The posterior 

 cross-crest in puis. 2 and 3 is rather better developed than 

 in pm. 4. The latter tooth has a somewhat prominent para- 

 style, and its postero-external cone is situated a trifle farther in 

 than the antero-external. Molar 1 is very much worn and its 

 characters, consequently, not well defined ; there is a pro- 

 nounced basal cingulum, and the postero-external cone is situ- 

 ated farther in than the same element in pm. 4. In ms. 2 and 

 -3, which are both well preserved, and scarcely at all worn, the 

 antero-external cone is much larger than the postero-external, 

 and the latter is placed far in from the former. The parastyle 

 is nearly as high as the antero-external cone, and is continuous 

 with the anterior basal cingulum. The anterior cross-crest is 

 much larger than the posterior, and is united with the antero- 

 external cone and not with the parastyle. Both of the exter- 

 nal cones are convex externally. There is a deep median sinus 

 which opens internally, but is closed externally. At the head 

 of the median sinus there is a buttress. For an illustration of 

 the more important characters of the skull and sup. dentition 

 see figs. 1, 2, 3, plate II. 



The lower jaw : No lower jaw was found with the type 

 specimen, but a lower jaw {No. 10,900 Princ. Coll.), found in 



* P. Z. S. 1882, p. 776. 



