XXVII. I- 



678 CARNIVORES 



convenient to make further subdivision into five superorders. The 

 first of these, Ferae, makes the central group, including the Carnivora. 

 The second superorder, Protoungulata, includes the earliest ungulates, 

 the condylarths, and it is convenient to place here also certain early 

 offshoots, such as the South American ungulates and one living 

 survivor, the aardvark. The third superorder is known as Paenungulata 



PLEISTOC£NE 



FISSIPEDIA 



Fig. 446. Chart of the evolution of Carnivora. 



('near ungulates') and includes a group of orders with rather primitive 

 organization, most of them extinct. The elephants, hyraxes, and sea- 

 cows remain as isolated vestiges of this great group, which included 

 the huge pantodonts and dinocerates, formerly classed together as 

 amblypods, also the pyrotheres, elephant-like animals from South 

 America, and the embrithopods, large, horned animals from Africa. 

 The fourth superorder, Mesaxonia, includes only the Perissodactyla, 

 descended from the condylarths, while the fifth superorder, Paraxonia, 

 contains the artiodactyls, derived a little later from the condylarths. 

 Of all this assembly of varied types only the carnivores and ruminant 

 artiodactyls remain successful types at the present day, abundant in 

 species and individuals, the remaining orders are either extinct or are 

 represented only by few species. 



