696 



THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLII 



growth; or that the answer to Mr. Riddles 's question, "What 

 causes the production of 'down' V is to be found in malnutri- 

 tion of the individual. J. A. A. 



VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY 

 New Fossil Mammals from Egypt — It was announced some time 

 ago that the expedition of the American Museum of Natural 

 History to the famous fossil beds of the Fayum had been highly 

 successful, and particulars of the results have been awaited with 

 much interest. Professor Osborn has just issued a short paper 1 

 describing some of the more remarkable discoveries. Two new 

 forms, unfortunately represented only by portions of the lower 

 jaw, are so peculiar that their ordinal position remains uncer- 

 tain. One of these is named Ptolemaia lyonsi, and is taken as 

 the type of a new family Ptolemaiidae. It is even stated that it 

 possibly represents a new order. The other, ApicUum phio- 

 mensis, new genus and species, "was evidently a small omnivo- 

 rous or frugivorous form with partly cuspidate teeth"; but at 

 present its precise affinities are unknown. Two other fossils are 

 described, representing new genera (Phiomys and Metaphiomys) 

 of rodents, placed in the family Eomyidce. 



T. D. A. C. 



Errata: The title of the article by Professor George H. Parker in the 

 SoptenilxT issue, p. 601, shmiM n>ad "The Origin of the Lateral Eyes of 

 Vertebrates. ' ' The figure on p. 606 is inverted. 



'Bull Am. Mus. N. Hist., XXIV, 265-272, March 25, 1908. 



{No. 501 uas issued on September 30, 1908) 



