C    129  ] 
XV.  On  the  Anatomy  of  the  Cheetah,  Fehs  jubata,  Schreh.  By  Richard  Owen,  Esq., 
F.Z.S.,  Assistant  Conservator  of  the  Museum  of  the  Royal  College  of  burgeons  in 
London. 
Communicated  September  10,  1833. 
Naturale,  si  ullum,  genus  felinum  est,  is  the  expression  of  Hermann  when  about  to 
enter  upon  the  relations  of  this  group  in  his  '  Affinitates  AnimaUum' ;  and  yet  the 
number  of  species  which  were  then  known  was  very  considerable.  Forster^  who  had 
ascertained  the  existence  of  twenty  one  distinct  species  of  the  feline  Carnivora,  attempted 
to  arrange  them  in  three  subdivisions ;  but  the  characters  which  he  selected  for  that 
purpose  were  too  artificial  to  ensure  their  adoption.  Thus,  for  example,  he  associated 
the  Cheetah,  the  subject  of  the  present  communication,  with  the  Lion,  on  all  hands 
acknowledged  to  be  the  type  of  the  genus,  and  to  manifest  the  pecuharities  of  the 
feline  structure  in  the  highest  and  noblest  degree :  but  if  we  trace  the  deviations  from 
this  type  as  manifested  by  the  gradual  weakening  of  the  legs  and  feet,  and  the  deterio- 
ration of  the  claws  as  destructive  and  prehensile  weapons,  the  Cheetah  will  be  furthest 
removed  from  the  Lion.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  consider  the  deviation  from  the 
same  type  in  the  form  of  the  ears,  in  the  form  of  the  pupil,  and  in  the  proportions  of 
the  tail,  the  Lynces  of  Forster  are  farther  removed  than  the  Cheetah,  and  indicate  in 
these  particulars  the  passage  to  the  Genets. 
In  their  internal  structure  the  ditFerences  of  the  Feles  one  from  another  are  less 
easily  appreciable  than  in  their  outward  form.  Perhaps  the  most  marked  among  the 
anatomical  variations  obtains  in  the  mode  of  attachment  of  the  os  hyoides  to  the  cra- 
nium ;  and  this  difference  is  evinced  in  the  living  animal  by  a  difference  in  the  variety 
and  power  of  the  voice.  In  the  Lion  an  elastic  ligament,  about  6  inches  in  length,  con- 
nects on  each  side  the  lesser  cornu  of  the  os  hyoides  with  the  styloid  process :  the  liga- 
ment can  be  stretched  to  8  or  9  inches.  The  larynx  is  consequently  situated  at  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  posterior  margin  of  the  bony  palate  ;  but  the  soft  palate  is 
prolonged  backwards  to  opposite  the  aperture  of  the  glottis,  and  the  tongue  is  propor- 
tionately increased  in  length ;  thus  a  gradually  expanding  passage  leads  from  the 
glottis,  where  the  air  is  rendered  sonorous,  to  the  mouth ;  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
the  strong  transverse  ridges  upon  the  bony  palate  may  contribute,  with  the  preceding 
trumpet-like  structure,  to  give  to  the  voice  that  intonation  which  is  so  aptly  denomi- 
nated "  the  roar  of  the  lion." 
'  Phil.  Trans.,  vol.  Ixxi.  p.  1. 
