MAMMALIA 629 



rabbits, mice, poultry, game, and small livestock. The wolves are 

 larger than coyotes and frequently hunt in packs. Canis gigas is the 

 timber wolf. 



In the family Felidae are classified the domestic cat, bobcat (lynx), 

 tiger, leopard, mountain lion, jaguar, and ocelot. Most of the wild 

 representatives of this group have been pushed far back into the more 

 remote parts of the Southwest and the Rocky Mountain area. Felis 

 couguar, the mountain lion (puma, panther, or cougar) ; Felis 

 hernandesii, the jaguar; Felis pardalis, the ocelot; and Lynx rufus, 

 the bobcat or catamount, can all be found in southwestern Texas 

 and New Mexico. The common North American coon or raccoon (Fig. 

 412) is a plantigrade (walks on entire foot with heel touching the 

 ground) animal about two and one-half feet long and generally dis- 

 tributed east of the Rockies. Procyon lotor is its name, and it is much 

 hunted throughout the South for its fur and its flesh. The bears in- 

 clude the black or brown bear, Euarctos americanus, which is the most 

 widely distributed and most common; the large, grizzly, TJrsus hor- 

 ribilis, of the Rocky Mountains, and the white polar bear, Tlmlarctos 

 maritimus, of the Arctic region. Brown bears and grizzlies are rather 

 omnivorous, feeding on fruit, insects, flesh, honey, and even tourists' 

 lunches. The grizzly bear is more partial to meat than is the brown 

 bear. The polar bear feeds quite largely on fish. 



There are several carnivores which are considerably modified as an 

 adaptation to a life in the ocean. The body has become fishlike in its 

 shape and specializations. The appendages in particular have be- 

 come swimming organs. Callorhinus alascamis, the fur seal, occurs 

 along the Pacific coast and goes to the Pribilof Islands of the Bering 

 Sea at breeding season. At this time one male or ''bull," depending 

 on his ability to fight other males, will set himself up in charge of 

 from four or five to twenty-five or thirty females. Under present 

 laws, only the unmated males ("bachelors") are allowed to be killed 

 for the furs. 



Besides the fur seal, there are the California sea lion, Zalophus 

 calif ornianus; the Pacific walrus, Odobenus divergens or 0. obesus; 

 and the Atlantic walrus, Odobenus rosniarus. The walruses have 

 very long canine teeth in the upper jaw and use these for digging 

 mollusks which are used as food. 



Order Artiodactyla. — This is one of the four orders of hoofed ani- 

 mals and includes those with the even toes. The group includes 



