ORDER CARNIVORA. 



H39 



jaw, Palceoprionodon, of the Quercy Phosphorites, appears to be so 

 closely allied to Prionodon, that it is somewhat difficult to see how 

 it can be even generically separated. Closely allied to Palceoprion- 

 odo?i is StenoplesicttSj from the same deposits, in which the dental 



formula is I -, C. — , Pm. -, M. -, or the same as in Viverra. 



3 i 4 2 



This genus presents, however, decided indications of affinity with 



Fig. 1322. — Palatal aspect of the left upper dentition of the Zibeth {Viverra zibethd) ; 

 from India. 



the Musteloid Plesictis, on which account it is placed by Dr 

 Schlosser, together with Palczoprionodon, in the same family ; but 

 its dentition and the contour of the skull are decidedly Viverrine, 

 and, according to Dr Scott, the bulla has a complete septum, of 

 which the position is visible externally, as in modern Viverrines. 

 It is, however, quite probable that we may have in these generalised 



Fig. 1323.— Palatal aspect of the left upper dentition of Ictitherium robustnm , 

 from the Pliocene of Greece. (After Gaudry.) 



forms the ancestral types of the Mustelidce, which from this view 

 will have lost the septum of the bulla independently of the Bears. 

 In all the above-mentioned genera the upper carnassial has only two 

 lobes, but in Ictitherium (Thqlassictis) they are increased to three, 

 as in Hyama. Ictitherium occurs in the Lower Pliocene of Greece, 

 Hungary, and France; and its upper true molars (fig. 1323) have 



