464 CANIDJE. CANINE. CANIS. 



Unlike Cats, which depend upon a stealthy approach and sudden 

 spring to secure their prey, the members of the Canidae run their's 

 down in the open, frequently giving cry as they speed onward in the 

 chase. The species most dreaded are the great timber wolves, which, 

 when rendered desperate by hunger, assemble in packs, and do not 

 hesitate to attack any animal on their domain, not even man himself. 

 Jackals and Coyotes are little wolves by comparison, the former 

 inhabitants of the Old World, the latter of the New. Wild Dogs are 

 also natives of the Eastern Hemisphere in parts of Central Asia, and 

 the Oriental region ; none are found in North America. The' Vulpine 

 group has many species of true foxes, as well as some genera con- 

 taining doglike animals of the wolf series, like the Cape Hunting Dog 

 of Africa (Lycaon pictus) and the Bush Dog of South America 

 (Icticyon venaticus}. The variations in the structure of the members 

 of the Canidae are very slight, consisting in the number of molar 

 teeth, some possessing more, others less, and in the case of the Hunt- 

 ing Dog, fewer toes, and the same number on all feet. Trifling 

 variations in the skull and the size of the teeth have been seized 

 upon for specific distinction, but like the numberless shades of color 

 in their coats, but little dependence can be placed on the majority of 

 these characters for a satisfactory specific diagnosis. The gradations 

 from one form to another in all the members of this family would 

 seem to defy all efforts to affix a boundary to many of those desig- 

 nated as worthy of separate rank. 



i 

 Fam. III. Can id ;r. Wolves. Foxes. 



St. George Mivart. Monograph of the Canidce, 1890. 

 C. H. Merriam. Review of the Coyotes, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 

 1897, p. 19. 



Claws not retractile; feet digitigrade; four toes on hind foot, five 

 on fore foot, one rudimentary situated high above the others, some- 

 times absent; bullae inflated; paroccipital process in contact with 

 bullse. 



Subfam. I. Caninse. 

 87. Caiiis. 



T 3-3. rlnl- p 4^4. M 2-2 _ , 2 

 S-3' U M ; F '4-4' M '3-3- 42 - 



Canis Linn., Syst. Nat., i, 1758, p. 38; i, 1766, p. 56. Type Canis 



familiaris Linnaeus. 



Lupus Frisch, Nat. Syst. vierfuss. Thiere, in Tab., 1775. Oken. 

 Schrb. Naturg. 1816, Zool. 2te Abth., p. 1039. 



