﻿. FELIS SPEL^A. 67 



The dental formula of Felis spelaa is that of the restricted family Felidce ; 

 DT. 1,2, 3. DC. DM. 2,3, 4. 1.1,2,3. C. PM. 2, 3, 4. MI 



DI. 1, 2, 3, DC. DM. 3, 4. I. 1, 2, 3. C. PM. 3, 4. MI. 



D. 26. P. 28. 



PM2 is often wanting. PM 2, though often found in other species, has not occurred in 



Felis spelaa. 



§ 2 a. Upper Permanent Dentition. Pis. VI, VIII, XI. — The upper permanent teeth of 

 Felis spelaa present no important differences as compared with those of lion and tiger. 



Incisors. PI. XI, figs. 1, 2, 3, 4. — The small incisors 1 and 2 are so closely alike, 

 that the inner (PI. XI, figs. 1, 2) is only to be known from the outer (figs. 1, 3) by the 

 possession of a shorter crown, and by its smaller size. Each has a simple fang com- 

 pressed parallel to the median line, and nearly straight : the crown of each is somewhat 

 strongly recurved and traversed by a transverse ridge, so that it presents a cutting edge. 

 On the posterior or internal base rise two small lobes (/), which are usually more evident 

 on 12 than on 11^. The third (figs. 4, 4', 4"), as in all the Carnivora, is larger, and 

 more caniniform than the other two, and is implanted by a stout subcylindrical fang. 

 In the unworn state, it presents a recurved cone, springing from a base oval in 

 outline, but flatter internally than externally, and transversed posteriorly by a broad and, 

 in part, deep groove, passing obliquely from the base downwards and inwards, the tooth 

 being held in the natural position, which is representative of that on II and 2, and 

 marks off a corresponding small tubercle or cusp (/) on the inner posterior or internal 

 side. The cingulum is slightly or moderately developed. We are able to figure a 

 perfectly unworn tooth from Bleadon Cave, which had belonged to so young an animal 

 that the fang has never been ossified. This tooth is easily differentiated from the corre- 

 sponding tooth of the hysena, by the more slender and slightly more curved form, by 

 the smaller breadth and greater depth of the posterior groove, by the consequently 

 greater size of the cusp (/), as also in young specimens, by the perfect smoothness of the 

 enamel. The canines of the glutton with which this tooth is sometimes compared, are 

 essentially different in form, and are also far more slender, and their enamel surface is 

 much rougher than even in the teeth of hysena. 



Canines (PI. XI, figs. 1, 5, 6, 7). — The canines of the larger specimens of Felis 

 spelaa were truly formidable weapons, and exceeded in size those of any adult lion or 

 tiger we know of. The largest we have seen is from Crayford, in the Thames Valley. 

 It measures 6*80 inches in length, the point being somewhat abraded. This somewhat 

 exceeds the large specimen figured by De Blainville. 1 It unfortunately did not come 

 into our hands until our plate of the dentition was finished, in which we had figured as 

 the largest British specimen one about the size of the French tooth, from Wookey 



1 ' Ost. Felis,' pi. xv. 



