4S 



University of California Publications. 



[Geology 



mark in the presence of a deep pit opposite the middle of the 

 astragalar facet. The cuboid is a little higher than wide and 

 shows a deep peroneal groove. The mesocuneiform and entocu- 

 neiform are small and narrow. 



The form of the metatarsals shows the foot to be more special- 

 ized than might have been inferred from a study of the skull and 

 dentition. Compared with the size of the tarsus, the middle meta- 

 tarsal is long and relatively heavy. The total length of the tar- 

 sus, measured to the posterior end of the calcaneum, is a little 

 less than that of metatarsal three. In most felines, particularly 

 in the older forms, the tarsus is considerably longer than the 

 metatarsus. This is particularly noticeable in Hoplophoneus and 

 to a less extent in Deinictis. 



The lateral digits are relatively reduced. Metatarsal three is 

 considerably larger and heavier than the others, while number 

 five is relatively short and slender. Number two is also consid- 

 erably reduced. The proximal end of number two has been some- 

 what damaged, so that it is not possible to determine certainly 

 whether the foot retained a part of metatarsal one. A small de- 

 pression on the median or free side of the proximal end of this 

 element, but scarcely reaching beyond the proximal end of meta- 

 tarsal three, may have been occupied by a rudimentary meta- 

 tarsal one. As the distal end of the entocuneiform is very thin 

 and slender, such a rudiment if present at all must have been 

 very small. 



The reduction of the lateral digits is greater than that in 

 Deinictis and Hoplophoneus, or than in many of the typical mod- 

 ern cats. A somewhat similar relative elongation of the middle 

 metatarsals and reduction of the lateral ones is seen in the chee- 

 tah and caracal. 



A slenderness of the anterior foot is indicated by Cope's state- 

 ment' 17 that the fifth metacarpal was relatively much smaller than 

 in the typical modern Felidae. 



The terminal phalanges are not known in association with 

 other determinable skeletal elements. The other phalanges are 

 rather broad. The middle phalanx in each digit shows consid- 

 erably less oblique excavation of the shaft on the outer side than 



- ; Tert. Vert., p. 961. 



