Vol. 5] 



Merriam. — John Day Carnivora. 



7 



Professor Condon in his work on the Two Islands and was after- 

 ward kindly loaned to the author by him for comparison and 

 study. The skull lacks only the portion anterior to the canines. 

 The parts present are well preserved and in good condition for 

 study. 



Distinctive Characters. — Muzzle short, posterior ends of pre- 

 maxillaries extending behind the anterior ends of the frontals, 

 sagittal crest high, inion prominent, auditory bullae very large, 

 inferior margin of the mandible strongly convex below the ante- 

 rior side of the coronoid process. Dentition f, {, f, §. P 4 

 with incipient protostyle, deuterocone weak. M 1 with broad in- 

 ternal lobe, apparently without protoconule. P„, P 3 , and P 4 with 

 posterior basal tubercles and without anterior cusps. M t with 

 well-developed metaconid, heel with low entoconid and hypoco- 

 nid. Trigonid of M 2 with distinct paraconid. M 3 with three or 

 four low tubercles or ridges. 



Skull. — The type of skull shown in this species is that of a 

 short-muzzled form with greatly developed temporal muscles. 

 The shortening of the facial region is accompanied by relatively 

 great backward extension of the premaxillaries, which pass the 

 anterior ends of the frontals, and almost reach a line connecting 

 the anterior borders of the orbits. 



The sagittal crest is high and sharp. The inion projects 

 rather more than is typical of Canis. The occipital region shows 

 strong buttresses running out on either side to the lambdoidal 

 crest. The auditory bullae are very large, and the paraoccipital 

 processes prominent. 



On the mandible, the massteric fossa is deep. The inferior 

 margin of the jaw shows a somwhat greater degree of convexity 

 below the anterior end of the massateric fossa than is common in 

 the typical canids. 



Dentition. — The dentition is in general much like that of 

 Canis, but differs in the presence of a notch on the anterior side 

 of P 4 , which separates an incipient protostyle from the proto- 

 cone ; in the presence of a minute paraconid on M 2 , and of sev- 

 eral tubercles on M 3 ; and in the greater width of the lingual side 

 of W. 



