_Diagnosis._--Size larger than any known species; P4 with
posteroexternal cusp (metacone) anterior to central (hypocone) and
lingual (entostyle) cusps, which are connected by a cingulum; internal
cingula of molars undivided, and as high as paracone and metacone; style
of each cingulum opposite the straight median valley; rostrum deep and
laterally compressed.
_Description._--The type consists of the preorbital and interorbital
parts of a skull. Its size is comparable to that of the Recent
heteromyid, _Liomys pictus_ Merriam. _L. pictus_ is the species referred
to in the comparisons below when only the generic name _Liomys_ is
mentioned. Both incisors have been broken off. The right tooth-row is
missing, but the left row is complete, and its orientation indicates
that the tooth rows were parallel. The zygomata are broken off close to
the rostrum, which is relatively narrow in comparison with its length
and depth. In this narrowness, the specimen resembles _Florentiamys_
Wood more than it does such Recent heteromyids as _Liomys_ or
_Heteromys_, where the rostrum is much wider at the dorsal surface than
at the ventral surface (correlating with the wide interorbital
dimension). In No. 7702 the rostrum is not appreciably expanded on the
dorsal surface. The wide interorbital dimension also gives a tapering
appearance to the rostrum of the Recent heteromyids, when viewed
dorsally, which is not seen in the fossil specimen. Like those of most
heteromyids, the nasals and premaxillaries project forward beyond the
incisors.
_H. tenuiceps_ has a distinctly heteromyidlike appearance, and it is
obvious that the features of the anterior part of the skull, which
characterize the heteromyids, had been established by middle Oligocene
time.
The nasal bone extends caudad as far as does the premaxillary; they
terminate at the anterior border of the orbit. The nasal is widest
anteriorly where it curves downward on the side to meet the anterior
projection of the premaxillary bone beyond the incisor. Posteriorly, the
two nasals have practically parallel lateral borders much as in
_Liomys_.
The frontal bone dorsally is relatively narrower than in any Recent
heteromyid, and closely resembles that of the geomyids. There is a
slight depression in the midline of the skull where the two frontals
unite, but no evidence of a ridge for the attachment of the temporal
muscle. In lateral view, the ledge seen in _Liomys_ at the dorsal
surface is absent, nor is this surface rounded as in _Geomys_.
Preservation around the nasolacrimal canal is poor, but traces of
sutures indicate that the frontal bone is not involved in the
posteromedial wall of that canal. The orbital plate is broad,
comparatively flat, and extends farther ventrad than in _Liomys_, and
enters into the composition of the sphenopalatine foramina. Ventrally
the frontal bone meets the orbital processes of the palatine and
maxillary bones, and posterolaterally meets the orbitosphenoid.
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