.ELIROIDEA 



501 



easily definable characters, to regard as natural. It is therefore 

 generally mentioned in the following family definitions. 



It must, however, be stated that while the arrangement is a 

 convenient one as regards the existing Carnivores, it Avill not hold 

 good when the fossil forms are included. Thus there is ample 

 evidence to show that the Dogs and Bears were formerly so inti- 

 mately connected that in a palseontological classification the Cnit/i/tr 

 cannot be satisfactorily separated from the Ursidce ; while in another 

 direction the Canidce were closely allied to the ancestral Viverridce. 

 The most important objection against this classification is, however, 

 the apparent intimate connection exhibited by fossil forms between 

 the Vwerridce and the Mustelidce, which, so far as the present evi- 

 dence goes, tends to show that the latter are derived from the 

 former. If this be eventually fully proved, it would seem to 

 indicate that the Arctoidea are not a natural group; and that the 

 resemblances between the Ursidce and Mustelidce have been independ- 

 ently accpiired, in the course of the descent of the one family from 

 a Canoid, and of the other from a Viverroid stock. 



Section ^Eluroidea. 



Carnivores include the Felidce, 



The .^Eluroidea or Cat-like 

 / r iv( rridce, rrotcleidce,nndII>/(riiid(i . 

 The existing representatives of 

 this section present the following 

 common features. Auditory bulla 

 (Fig. 222) much dilated, rounded 

 smooth, thin-walled, and (except 

 in the Hyomid(z) divided into two 

 chambers by a septum. Bony 

 auditory meatus short. Par- 

 occipital process applied to, and 

 spread over the hinder part of 

 the bulla (Fig. 222). Mastoid 

 process never very salient, and 

 often obsolete. Carotid canal 

 (Fig. 8, p. 38, car) small, some- 

 times very inconspicuous. Con- 

 dyloid and glenoid foramina con- 

 cealed or wanting. Caecum small, 

 rarely absent. Os penis generally 

 small and irregular (large in 

 ( 'ryptoprocta). Cowper's glands 

 present ; prostate distinctly lobed. 

 Some details of the anatomy of 

 the soft parts will be found under the head of Genetta, 



Fig. 222.— Left side of the palatal aspect of 

 the cranium and mandible of the Suricate (Suri- 

 cata tetradactyla). c, Carotid foramen ; /, fissuiv 

 in floor of auditory meatus. From Mivart, 

 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1882, p. 1S4. 



