SIWALIK AND NARBADA CARNIVORA. 
81—258 
with those of G. bengalensis , will also show that the inner cnsp of the blade of the 
former (best seen on the right side of the figure') is placed more anteriorly, or more 
nearly opposite the hinder outer lobe of the blade ; in consequence of which the 
1 cusp-line ’ becomes less oblique. The table of measurements also shows that m. 3 
is relatively larger in the fossil jaw. In all the above-mentioned points the latter is 
intermediate between the mandibles of the smaller alopecoids and Otocyon , though 
on the whole nearer to the former. 
It has already been mentioned that in the form of the rami of the mandible 
Mr. Bose has pointed out an important character of the fossil. In all the smaller 
alopecoids (and apparently in all other species of Canis ) the two rami of the 
'mandible have their alveolar borders nearly rectilinear, and enclose between them a 
V-shaped space. In Otocyon / on the contrary, the rami are outwardly curved, and 
consequently enclose between them a narrow U-shaped space. In this respect, as 
will be seen from the figure, the mandible of Canis curvipalatus agrees precisely with 
Otocyon : the only difference in the form of the rami being that they are rather 
stouter in the former. 
Affinities. — From the foregoing comparisons it will be gathered that the species 
under consideration agrees with the true dogs in the number of its dentition, and 
thereby differs markedly from Otocyon. In respect of the structure of its teeth it is 
on the whole nearest to the lowest alopecoids, but in many respects it makes a 
marked step in the direction of Otocyon : and it is extremely remarkable that this 
resemblance is more marked on one side of the skull than on the other, as if the 
individual were one in the process of transition from one genus to the other. The 
form of the cranium is also intermediate between the small alopecoids and Otocyon ; 
but there are certain characters only found in the latter. The form of the mandible, 
as far as it is known, is essentially that of Otocyon , and quite different from that 
of any alopecoid. 
From the number of the cheek-teeth it seems right to refer the fossil to the 
genus Canis ( Vulpes ) ; but there is no doubt that it tends in a very marked degree to 
bridge over the difference between that genus and Otocyon. The most probable 
interpretation of the genetic affinity of Canis curvipalatus is that it is a form derived 
from the primitive ancestral stock of Otocyon , and that it is on the direct ancestral 
line of the existing small alopecoids ; its resemblance being greater to the North 
American C. littoralis , than to the Indian C. bengalensis . 2 As already observed, it is 
difficult to interpret the more specialized condition of the hinder cheek-teeth of the 
right side of the individual fossil, over those of the left, otherwise than as indicating 
a species in the process of evolution from the more generalized otocyonoid stock 
to that of the modern alopecoids. 
1 For a figure of the dental aspect of the mandible of this genus 6ee Filhol, “ Mammiferes Fossiles de l’Epoque Miocene, 
etc.,’ pi. V., fig. 12. 
2 It is unfortunate that it is impossible to determine to which type the angular process of the fossil form belongs. 
T 
