686 



CARNIVORES 



xxvii. 6 



carnassial having developed ( ? redeveloped) a hypocone. They are 

 all American, except Ailurus and Ailuropoda, the panda and giant 

 panda (Fig. 453), large, herbivorous creatures living in Asia. The 

 latter has a special bone near the pollex, making a grasping organ for 

 holding bamboo shoots. 



■Labial view 



Cat Dog Bear 



Fig. 450. Carnassial teeth of carnivores. 



The top row shows the last left upper premolar from the labial side ; middle row 



the same from below; bottom row the first left lower molar from the labial side. 



/;. heel (talonid); me. metaconc; md. metaconid; pa. paracone; pd. paraconid; pr. 



protocone. (Partly after Flower and Lydekker.) 



These families of rather primitive carnivores are united in a super- 

 family Canoidea, and with them we may associate the weasels (Muste- 

 lidae), which are the typical small carnivores found throughout the 

 world and retain many primitive characters. They have well-developed 

 carnassials and never more than one post-carnassial molar. They can 

 be recognized back to the Eocene and now include the stoats and 

 weasels, Mustela (Fig. 455), which live on rats and mice, rabbits, and 

 other small herbivores; Meles the badger (Fig. 454), which is omni- 

 vorous and has a hypocone; Mephitis the skunk (Fig. 456), a burrow- 

 ing animal that ejects a stream of foul-smelling liquid from special 

 anal glands; and the otters, Lutra (Fig. 457), with webbed feet, short 

 fur, small ears, and other features suited for life in the water. In many 



