414 DOGS AND WOLVES 



form of the bulk is Aeluroid. The teeth vary somewhat in 

 number, and the following table will serve to indicate the gradual 

 reduction observable in the number of molars : 



Otocyon I f C \ Pm A M -f 



Canis generally I C 1 Pm M J-- * 



C^ow IfCi-PmAMf 



Icticyon I -- C Pm M ^ r -l 



All the Dogs have a caecum 1 of simple cylindrical form. In 

 C. cancrivorus, C. jubatus, and Nyctercutes procyonides this organ 

 is straight or only very faintly curved ; in other Dogs it is 

 coiled into an S-like form, sometimes with an additional twist. 

 The Dogs have, as a rule, five toes, one being dropped in Lycaon. 

 The tail is fairly long and distinctly bushy. There is in a 

 number of species a gland at the root of the tail, the presence of 

 which can frequently be detected by the wet appearance due to 

 the oozing secretion. The great majority of existing Canidae 

 belong to the genus Canis. But certainly three, and more 

 doubtfully four, other genera can be distinguished. 



The genus Icticyon contains but one recent species, the Bush 

 Dog (/. venaticus, Lund) of British Guiana. The animal has a. 

 somewhat Paradoxure-like, at any rate a distinctly un-dog-like, 

 aspect, being longish in the body (some 2 feet long), shortish in 

 the legs, and big-headed. It is blackish in colour, verging 

 towards golden brown on the head and back. Sir W. Flower, to 

 whom we owe our chief knowledge of its structure, characterises it 

 as like a young Fox, and with the playful manners of a puppy. 

 The animal appears to hunt in packs and by scent, and has a 

 reputation for ferocity. Icticyon differs from Canis and agrees 

 with the Indian Cuon in having but forty teeth, the last molar 

 having disappeared from the upper and lower jaws. The 

 caecum, unlike that of the majority of Canidae, is only slightly 

 curved. The brain, oddly enough, shows a Cat-like peculiarity. 

 It has been pointed out that in their long bodies and short legs 

 the genera Cuon and Icticyon resemble the primitive dogs. 2 



A genus Nyctereutes is usually separated from Canis for the 



inclusion of N. procyonides only. The separation is based upon 

 * 



1 Flower, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1879, p. 766. 

 - Proc. Zool. Soc. 1880, p. 70. 



