388 NOTES ON THE CANTD.E OF THE WHITE KIVER OLIGOCENE. 



tively broader but more depressed than in Canis. As in Daphcenus, the proximal articu- 

 lar surface is somewhat more deeply concave and presents more obliquely toward the dor- 

 sal side than in the recent genus. The distal trochlea likewise resembles that of Daphce- 

 nus in having a deeper median groove and in being more confined to the palmar aspect 

 of the bone than in Canis, which has the distal trochlea reflected well over upon the dor- 

 sal side of the phalanx. 



Of the second phalanx only tbe proximal half is preserved in any of the specimens, 

 and I have so far failed to find even a fragment of the distal end. So far as can be 

 judged from the material at hand, Cynodictis would appear to have differed from Daphce- 

 nus in the very important respect that the claws were not at all or only very imperfectly 

 retractile. In Daphcenus tbe asymmetry of the second phalanx is clearly displayed even 

 in its proximal portion, while in Cynodictis the proximal end is quite symmetrical and 

 does not possess any depression or excavation upon the ulnar side. However, a certain 

 resemblance to Daphcenus and difference from Canis may be observed in the greater con- 

 cavity and more marked separation of the two pits into which the proximal facet is 

 divided, as well as in the greater prominence of the beak-like process which rises from 

 the dorsal margin and fits into the median distal groove of the first phalanx. In the 

 absence of the distal end of the second phalanx, it cannot be positively stated that 

 Cynodictis had lost (or had never possessed) all trace of the retractility of the claws, but 

 it does not seem unlikely that such was the case. 



Measurements. 



Carpus, height in median line 



breadth 



Metacarpal i, length 



" width of proximal end ... 



" " " distal end 



Metacarpal ii, width of proximal end.. 



Metacarpal iii, length 



width of proximal end.. 



" " " distal end 



Metacarpal iv, width of proximal end... 



Metacarpal v, length 



" width of proximal end ... 

 " distal end 



No. 10193. 



1 No. 11012. 





0.006 





.011 





.012 



.0035 



.004 





.003 





.0035 



.022 



.0215 



004 



.0035 



.005 



.0045 



.004 



.0035 



.017 



.016 



.004 



.004 



.004 



.0045 



The ungual phalanx differs in several not unimportant details both from that of 

 Daphcenus and that of Canis, and is, on the whole, intermediate in character between 



