NOTES ON THE CANIDiE OF THE WHITE RIVEB, OLIGOCEXE. 399 



that of the modern clogs, being much longer, stouter and in every way better developed ; 

 it was not, perhaps, quite so long proportionately as in Herpestes, but nearly so. This, 

 however, is a primitive feature, which is common to the greater part of the earlier carni- 

 vores and ungulates, and is even more conspicuous in Daphcenus than in ( 'ynodictis, 

 while the White River Machairodonts, Dinictis and Soplophoneus, have very long and 

 massive tails. 



The limbs, though not so long proportionately as in the recent dogs, are much more 

 so than in the John Day species, C. geismarianus, the hind legs being especially elon- 

 gate. The scapula is not at all canine in character, being relatively very hu-ge and 

 having the broad blade and irregularly curved coracoid border of the viverrines ; the 

 great length of the acromion and the unusual size of the metacromion are peculiar. 

 The humerus is short but quite heavy, and with its low trochlea, prominent deltoid and 

 supinator ridges, and large epicondyle and epicondylar foramen, has an exceedingly 

 viverrine appearance. The ulna and radius are relatively short and slender, and the 

 discoidal head of the latter shows that the power of rotating the manus had been but 

 little diminished ; the great styloid process of the radius is very characteristic. The 

 carpus is low and the metacarpals are exceedingly short and weak, resembling in their 

 proportions those of Paradoxurus. The phalanges are elongate and the claws sharp 

 and compressed. 



The pelvis has a viverrine appearance in its shape and in the elongation of its 

 posterior portion, while the os penis resembles that of the mustelines in size and curva- 

 ture. The femur is long and the tibia is somewhat longer than the femur, bearing much 

 the same relation to that bone as in Canis, while the fibula is much stouter than in the mod- 

 ern genus. The pes is far larger in all its dimensions than the manus, the difference in 

 size between the two being much greater than in Canis. It is often exceedinglx difficult 

 to determine from the bones alone whether a given animal was plantigrade or digiti- 

 grade in gait, but from the resemblance of the limb and foot bones of Cynodietis to those 

 of the civets, it seems very probable that the former had a similar semiplantigrade gait. 



The John Day sj>ecies, C geismarianus, is considerably larger than the White River 

 forms, but resembled the latter in proportions. Cope says of it : "Although the skull 

 and pelvis of this species have about the size of those of the fisher, the vertebrae and 

 humerus are more slender and the anterior foot is decidedly smaller. It is probable that 

 the Galecynus [i. e., Cynodietis] geismarianus resembled a large Herpestes in general pro- 

 portions rather than a Chilis. It stood lower on the legs than a fox and had as slender 

 a body as the most ' vermiform ' of the weasels, the elongation being most marked in the 

 region jjosterior to the thorax. The tail was evidently as long as in the Ichneumons. 

 Its carnivorous propensities were as well developed as in any of the species mentioned. 



A. K s. — vol. xix. 2 y. 



