327—150 INDIAN TERTIARY AND POST-TERTIARY VERTEBRATA. 
Mr. Bose 1 ; who referred the specimens to Felis, with the suggestion that they might 
belong to F. cristata. 
Mandible . — The first of these two specimens is nearly complete up to some 
distance behind the commencement of the masseteric fossa ; and shows three cheek- 
teeth, all broken ; the canine ; and two incisors, the first having been broken away. 
The second specimen shows the three cheek-teeth, of which pm. 3 is alone uninjured; 
and the alveolus of the canine. The form and number of the cheek-teeth is the 
same as in living cats; while the rounded anterior extremity of the jaw, and the 
absence of a descending symphysial expansion, are characters of Felis, as distinguished 
from Machcerodus. The canine and incisors in the first specimen do not appear quite 
fully protruded ; though the condition of the cheek-teeth indicates that the animal 
to which it belonged was nearly adult. There are no signs of immaturity in the 
second specimen. In the following table the dimensions of these specimens are 
compared with those of the mandible of the small tiger mentioned on page 321, 
and of an Indian leopard in the writer’s collection : — 
16,573. 16,537. 
Length, of three cheek-teeth 2-16 2-29 
Interval 1 between canine and posterior border of m. 1 . 2 4 2-61 
, , ,, ,, ,, pm. 3 
F. tigris. 
2-32 
Depth of jaw at m. 1 
Length of pm. 3 
F. pardus. 
1- 87 
2- 42 
0- 91 
1- 25 
0-52 
0-78 
0-68 
0-78 
0-92 
0-53 
0-96 
0-49 
0-68 
0-78 
0-55 
Antero -posterior diameter of canine 
These dimensions show that the fossil jaws differ from those of both the recent 
species in the relatively shorter diastema, 2 and smaller canine. Thus while the 
cheek-teeth are nearly as large as those of the tiger, the canine is no larger than 
that of the leopard ; and the diastema is considerably shorter than in that species. 
Another most important difference is that the incisors (fig. la) are situated consider- 
ably in advance of the canines ; instead of entirely, or mainly, between them, as in 
all other living true cats : this relation being probably due to the very small size of 
the canines. The crown of pm. 3 has small fore-and-aft talons, with the main lobe 
nearly as tall as m. 4 ; in both respects differing from the larger cats, and agreeing 
with some of the smaller species like F. isabellina , 3 and F. catus. In respect of the 
exceedingly short diastema and small canine, the fossils come nearest to the cheetah 
( Cyncelurus ), 4 among living cats ; in which alone, as in the fossils, the length of the 
diastema is not more than half that of pm. 3 ; while the canines have a smaller 
diameter than those of the lynx, although the carnassials are considerably larger 
than those of the latter. 5 In the cheetah, moreover, the anterior border of the 
1 Op. cit., p. 123. 
2 The incomplete protrusion of the canine in the first specimen tends to make the diastema longer than in a fully adult 
specimen. The difference in the length of JmTi in the two specimens cannot he considered more than an individual variation. 
3 In F. lynx (frequently considered identical with F. isabellina) there are large talons to pm. 3 (De Blainville, 
“ Osteographie,” Gen. Felis, pi. XIV.) 
4 De Blainville, op. cit., pis. IX., XIV. Mivart, “ The Cat,” p. 429, fig. 183. 5 Compare De Blainville’s figures. 
