/'A'( '(']•( >.\y />./■: 



563 



hut its relationship to the Raccoons is regarded by Mr. W. T. 

 Blanford : as sufficiently close to admit of its being included in the 

 same family. According to this zoologist the Panda often sleeps 

 coiled up like a Cat, with the bushy tail over its head, but at other 

 times resting on its legs with the head tucked under the chest and 

 I'etween the fore legs, after a manner said to be common with the 

 Raccoons. Although by no means strictly nocturnal, these animals 

 sleep much during the day, and roam out in search of food in 

 the morning and evening. The young are born in a very helpless 





Fig. 25S.— The Panda (.-Elurus fulgens). The dark nasal stripe shown in this figure is generally 

 absent. (From Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. I860, p. 40S.) 



condition, and remain for a long period concealed in the holes of 

 trees or rocks. 



Fossil remains of a species of JSlurus {JE. anglicus) have been 

 obtained from the English Pliocene Crag deposits which indicate an 

 animal of about one and half times the size of JE. fidgens. The first 

 evidence of this fossil species was afforded by part of the mandible 

 with the last molar in place, and the subsequent discovery of an 

 entire first upper molar renders full confirmation of the generic 

 determination. This distribution of JElurus is very important, as 

 showing how its area may have once approximated to that of the 

 ancestors of the American representatives of the family. It is 

 probable that the genus existed in India during the Siwalik period. 



1 Fauna of British India, "Mammalia," p. 189 (1SS8). 



~s 



