2 Mamm. 
II. MAMMALIA. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The attention devoted to Mammals during the last few years shows no 
sign of waning, the number of papers here recorded being considerably in 
excess of the preceding year, and the number of forms described as new 
being proportionately large. 
The two items most worthy of special mention appear to be the 
description of the placentation of Perameles by Hill, and the tracing 
of the ancestry of the modern Edentata to the extinct Ganodontia by 
Wortman. One of these discoveries promises to revolutionize our ideas 
of the relationship of the Marsupialia to the Placentalia , while the other 
serves to bring into line a group previously isolated. 
A new feature in the year’s work is the attention directed to the 
distribution of Marine Mammals by P. L. Sclater, supplemented by 
important observations on the part of Gill and Ortmann respectively. 
W. L. Sclater continues his work on the terrestrial distribution of 
the class ; while among faunistic work special reference may be made to 
the labours of Graells on the Mammals of Spain, and to the comple- 
tion of Pousargdes’s work on those of the French Congo. Forsyth 
Major’s memoir on the relationships of the Malagasy Rodents is likewise 
worthy of note. 
Earle’s papers on the relation of Tarsius to the other Lemuroids and 
of the latter to the higher Primates are also of more than ordinary import- 
ance ; and in connection with this the researches of Matthew on the 
presumed Lemuroids of the Puerco fauna may claim mention. Duval 
continues his investigations into the reproduction of the Chiroptera. In 
the elaborate monographs of Semon’s travels we find much important 
information with regard to the anatomy of Marsupials and Monotremes, 
by Emery, Ziehen, and others ; while in the same series, as also in other 
papers, KCkenthal contributes to our knowledge of the Sirenians. The 
number and succession of the teeth in the latter group has also received 
attention during the year ; and, among other papers on the subject, 
reference may be made to Leche’s investigations on the dentition of the 
Insectivora generally, which have been supplemented by those of Forsyth 
Major on the dental succession in the Centetidce . Of special importance 
are the researches of Wilson & Hill in regard to the succession and 
homology of the teeth in Perameles and Marsupials generally. 
A considerable amount of work has been devoted to the brain in various 
groups, among which G. E. Smith’s investigations into the origin of the 
corpus callosum are perhaps those of most general importance. Myology 
has likewise come in for a considerable share of attention, especially at the 
hands of Parsons and Windle. 
Systematic work has been by no means neglected, all the familiar 
names, on both sides of the Atlantic, being to the fore. None of the 
animals described are, however, of such a nature as to call for special 
mention, unless it be a new Papuan representative of the Hydromyince. 
The Cetacea have received more attention than usual ; among the most 
interesting discoveries being the origin of the peculiar markings observable 
on the skin of Risso’s Grampus. 
As regards classificatory works, the first place is occupied by the new 
and revised edition of Trouessart’s Synopsis Mammalium, of which three 
parts have appeared during the year. Of minor import is Palmer’s list 
of the generic names and synonyms of the Rodentia , which forms a 
supplement to Thomas’s list of the preceding year. 
