436 



METAZOAN PHYLA 



Carnivora (kar niv' o ra; L., carnivorus, flesh-eating) are flesh-eating 

 mammals characterized generally by their large size and predatory 

 habits and by the fact that their incisor teeth are small while the canines 



Fig. 331. — Porcupine, quill-pig, Erethizon dorsatum (Linnaeus). An example of the 

 arboreal porcupines which are limited to the New World. They are large clumsy animala 

 with long, sharp spines which are modified hairs in their pelage. These quills are protective 

 and defensive structures; they dislodge easily, almost at a mere touch, and adhere ten- 

 aciously to anything they penetrate because of the barbed tips; quills cannot be thrown by 

 the animal — this is a mistaken belief. {Photographed from a specimen in the University of 

 Nebraska State Museum.) 



are highly developed and the molars are of a cutting type. This order 

 is divided into two great suborders. The first, Fissipedia (fis i pe' di a; 

 L., fissus, cleft, and pedis, foot), is made up of the terrestrial carnivores, 

 whose feet are divided into toes armed with well-developed, curved 



Fig. 332. — Nine-banded armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus Linnaeus, found from Texas 

 and southern New Mexico to Argentina. From a mounted specimen. X J^. 



claws (Fig. 329), and includes the cats, hyenas, dogs, wolves, foxes, 

 raccoons, badgers, weasels, minks, skunks, otters, and bears. A large 

 number of these are valuable for their fur. The second suborder, 

 Pinnipedia (pm i pe' di a; L., pinna, feather, and pedis, foot), is made 

 up of marine mammals in which both the fore- and hind limbs are modified 



