8 MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC WORLD 



Theria (often called Eutheria) with all modern mammals; 

 the egg-laying duckbill and spiny anteaters are placed in the 

 other Subclass, Prototheria. Man is next classified as a mem- 

 ber of the Order Primates. Dogs and cats, on the other hand, 

 go in the Order Carnivora ; and pigs, deer, and cattle are con- 

 sidered members of the Order Artiodactyla. Nineteen such Or- 

 ders of living mammals are recognized ; sixteen of them are dealt 

 with in this handbook. The Orders Hyracoidea (Hyraxes or 

 conies of Africa and Palestine), Tubulidentata (African aard- 

 varks), and Edentata (armadillos, sloths, and anteaters — 

 South American for the most part) are not represented in the 

 Pacific region. 



The basic system of classification of living mammals is in- 

 dicated by the accompanying diagram or phylogenetic tree 

 (p. 9). 



Many of the orders of mammals have no inclusive common 

 name. Especially is this true when they contain mammals that 

 appear quite different from one another ; even dogs and cats are 

 different enough to make the idea of the Order Carnivora a 

 difficult one. The less obvious relationships among mammals 

 have been recognized only during the last two centuries, which 

 is too short a time for the names given these groups to mean 

 much to the average person. However, it is useful to have com- 

 mon names for groups, even if they are not familiar and if they 

 are merely anglicized forms of scientific names. Whenever 

 such names are introduced in this handbook an attempt at ex- 

 planation will be made. 



Each order of mammals is subdivided into families. Man 

 belongs to a family group of his own, the Family Hominidse. 

 Other families of the primates comprise the apes (Pongidae), 

 gibbons (Hylobatidse), Old World monkeys (Cercopithecidas 

 and Colobidae), the tarsier (Tarsiidag), the slow loris and some 

 other lemurs (Lorisidas). There are still other families of South 

 American and Mascarene primates, as well as extinct families 

 known only from fossils. 



