RECENT LITERATURE 
149 
of contents could be added in which the classification adopted would be shown in 
synoptic form, and the extinct members of the group could be given their proper 
place in the general text if not in the keys. At present the fossils are cursorily 
mentioned in the paragraph headed Paleontology as part of the general account 
of each family. Hence such fossils as represent families of their own, like Dipro- 
todon or Nototherium, entirely escape notice. Furthermore, such names of fossils 
as do occur in the text are not included in the index and are not accompanied by 
references. This failure to treat the extinct forms in the same manner as those 
now living is a surprise in view of the comprehensive title Genera Mammalium. 
It is the only serious adverse criticism to which the book appears to be open. 
But unfortunately it too often happens at present that mammals preserved in 
rock are treated and thought of as essentially different from those preserved 
with arsenic or alcohol. 
As a book the volume has the attractive character which comes from well 
selected type, well arranged paragraphs, and well margined pages. It reflects 
credit onN|;he National Museum of Spain and on the ‘‘Junta para ampliacidn de 
estudios 6 investigaciones cientificas’ ’ under whose auspices it is published. 
—G. S. Miller. 
Lomiberg, Einar. Remarks on some South American Canid^e. Arkiv 
for Zoologi, Stockholm, vol. 12, no. 13, pp. I-IS, figs. 1-4. Printed September 3, 
1919. 
Dr. Lonnberg describes and figures the skull of Pseudalopex lycoides (Philippi), 
basing his account on three specimens collected on the eastern pampas of Tierra 
del Fuego by Ohlin during Nordenskj old’s expedition of 1895-6. While resem- 
bling the skull of P. magellanicus from the neighboring mainland in form it is 
decidedly larger, agreeing with that of the P. peruanus (Nordenskjold) found in 
a cave near Tirapata on the Peruvian plateau. The Peruvian animal was a co- 
temporary of OnoMppidium, Scleridotherium and other extinct mammals. 
Apparently it has survived with little or no change on Tierra del Fuego while 
another species has replaced it on the continent. Such a history would parallel 
that of microtine rodents now inhabiting Guernsey and the Orkney Islands. 
The skull of a domestic dog, probably pure bred, obtained from a party of 
Yaghan Indians on Tierra del Fuego is also described and figured. It shows no 
resemblances to any of the known native South American Canidse, but essen- 
tially agrees with the pre-Columbian dogs of Peru. In discussing the characters 
of this specimen Doctor Lonnberg remarks: “That the so-called domesticated 
dogs are of polyphyletic origin is nowadays generally admitted”. Prevalent 
though this belief may be it probably rests on no secure basis of facts. Super- 
ficial resemblances, in general form, in color, and in quality of fur, to jackals, 
coyotes, foxes and other wild members of the family may not infrequently be 
seen in domestic dogs. But in all the specimens that I have examined, repre- 
senting very diversified breeds, the skull and teeth remain fundamentally true 
to the type which in wild canids is peculiar to the northern wolves. This type, 
particularly as regards the cheekteeth, does not represent a primitive condition 
which might be expected to occur in various members of the family without having 
any special significance. On the contrary, in respect to the development of a 
combined cutting and crushing type of carnassials and molars it is the most 
