Vol. 5] 



Merriam. — Fel is At vox. 



293 



ramus of a Lower jaw including all of the teeth excepting' the 

 incisors. This specimen was designated as the American lion 

 by Leidy, and was shown to represent a species larger than the 

 Recent lion and tiger, and larger than the extinct cave lion of 

 Europe. 



Since the description of the type specimen of Fells atrox, no 

 other material has been published upon which has been referred 

 to this species. The only described specimen known to the writer 

 which might possibly be referred to tins form is the fragmentary 

 type of Felis imperialis, which Leidy obtained from deposits pre- 

 sumed to be of Quaternary age occurring in Livermore Valley, 

 California. 



OCCURRENCE AND AGE OF RANCHO LA BREA SPECIMEN. 



The skull which forms the subject of this paper was obtained 

 by Dr. AVilliam Bebb in the asphalt beds at Rancho La "Brea, 

 about nine miles west of Los Angeles. It was associated in these 

 deposits with numerous other mammalian remains including the 

 following forms: Cams indianensis ; Cants, n. sp. ; Smilodon ( 1) 

 calif 'or nic us ; Bison antiquus; Elephas, sp. ; Mastodon, sp. ; Ca- 

 melops, sp. ; Paramijlodon nebrascensis. The fauna as a whole 

 cannot be considered as other than Quaternary, although the par- 

 ticular division of that system represented is not as yet clearly 

 determined. 



SKULL. 



The general form of the skull (pi. 2(5) in the Rancho La Brea 

 specimen is remarkably similar to that in the Recent African 

 lion and to the cave lion of the European Quaternary. The prin- 

 cipal peculiarity noticeable in the broader outlines of the skull 

 is seen in the width of the muzzle compared with the basal length. 

 The breadth of the skull across the zygomatic arches, and also 

 across the upper jaws measured through the superior sectorials 

 is, compared with the basal length, about 5 per cent, less than in 

 a specimen of the African lion in the University collections; 

 while the transverse diameter of the muzzle measured over the 

 narrowest point opposite the diastema is about 5 per cent, greater 

 than in the African lion. 



