OF EXTINCT MUSOARDINE RODENT. 



221 



suggested that this similarity, which is apparently unaccompanied 

 by other points of resemblance, indicates any close affinity. On 

 the contrary, it would seem that these three genera each exhibit 

 in this character what would have been a stage, and that a very 

 early one, in the history of the evolution from the low-crowned 

 four-rooted towards the hypsodont and rootless or semi-rootless 

 molar. The cheek-teeth of Theridomys also seem to suggest the 

 possibility of this result being attained without the necessity of 

 including a stage having a large conical inner root in the upper 

 molars accompanied by a somewhat triangular-shaped crown, as 

 seen in some of the Sciuridse (Xerus for instance) and which 

 Dr. Forsyth Major has fully described in his invaluable paper on 

 the Miocene Squirrels*. 



Hypnomys is an interesting addition to the extinct fauna 

 of the Balearics so far known by Myotragus and Testudo 

 gymnesicus, both forms totally distinct from the present-day 

 fauna of the islands. Owing to the small amount of material 

 available, the question as to the precise age of these Balearic 

 deposits and their contents seems a difficult, if not impossible, 

 one to answer at present. Lately this matter has been the 

 subject of some interesting remarks by Prof. M. Boulet, who 

 seems inclined to consider the deposits of earlier age than 

 Pleistocene. Seeming to support this view are the absence of 

 human remains and the character of the chief remains found, i. e. 

 Myotragus, Hypnomys, and a giant Testudo. The occurrence of 

 remains of this last in the limestone fissures of Menorca certainly 

 suggests that there must have been great changes of climate and 

 vegetation, and that there have been considerable alterations in 

 the land surface is indicated by extensive stretches of sheets of 

 stalagmite now exposed on the weathered surface of the Miocene 

 limestone in both Mallorca and Menorca. 



On the other hand, it should be realised that not much weight 

 should be placed on the absence of human remains owing to the 

 fact that not a single one of the ossiferous deposits was found to 

 be in an undisturbed condition, all the upper layers in which such 

 remains might be expected to occur having been entirely destroyed. 

 Another point to be borne in mind is that in the Mediterranean 

 region several species now extinct have been proved to have per- 

 sisted until the time of man's occupancy of these particular areas. 

 The well-known Prolagus, remains of which were found in 

 Neolithic settlements in Corsica by Dr. Forsyth Major, is a case 

 in point. Another somewhat similar example is that of a small 

 deer, Anaglochis, whose remains occur abundantly in some of the 

 cave-deposits of Crete, while a number of its antlers w T ere found 

 by Sir Arthur Evans in a shrine in the famous Minoan Palace 

 of Knossos. 



I should like to take this opportunity of expressing my grateful 

 thanks to the Trustees of the Percy Sladen Memorial Fund fop 



* Proc. Zool. Soc. 1893, pp. 170-214. 



f ' L'Antliropologie,' tome xxviii. (1917) pp. 1G0-3. 



