Notice of the Skull of a Dog Exhumed from the Alluvial Gravel of Norwich, in 1851

Abstract

From the difficulty which apparently exists in identifying the Fossil remains of particular species of animals, as for instance, those of the Genus Canis, I avail myself of this opportunity to bring before the Society a short notice of the skull of one of the Canidae, which I believe to be that of a Dog, recently presented to the Museum of the Leeds Philosophical Society, by P. O’Callaghan, Esq., of Cookridge Hall. This specimen was exhumed from a bed of gravel at the depth of sixteen feet, along with the bones of Deer and other animals, in the year 1851, by some workmen employed in sinking a shaft for a new chimney at the gas works in the parish of St. Martins, at Palace, in the city of Norwich. The first comparative anatomist of the day, Professor Owen, in his valuable Manual of British Fossil Mammals, appears to be of opinion that it is extremely difficult to distinguish, with certainty, the skull of the Dog from that of the Wolf, from the specimens which have come under his observation; and that the majority of those remains which have been assigned to the Dog, do not differ sufficiently from those of the Wolf to warrant their separation. There are, however, characters in the latter to which Professor Owen alludes, which I think are sufficient to identify the Wolf. These are the great size of the canine teeth, the greater length and height of the occipital sagittal crest, and the triangular space ...