AELUROIDEA. 



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lobed. The Felidae are distributed over the whole world save in Avistralasia 

 and ]\Iadagascar. Their fossil remains first appear in the Upper Eocene, 

 and give us no clue to the origin of the family. Felis l^., i ^ c \ p '^ m -, 

 lower earnassial withovit talon and inner cusp, upper molar small, the first 

 upper premolar {p 2) may be absent ; clavicles better developed than in 

 other Carnivora, claws very retractile, tongue with sharp horny papillae ; 

 50 hving species, Neotr. 13, Ethiopian 8, Oriental 15, Nearct. 7, Pal. 20 ; 

 fossil in the M. Miocene onwards. F. leo, lion, Afr., India, W. Asia. 

 F. tigris, tiger, nasal bones reach back beyond the frontal processes of the 

 maxillae, Asia, Sumatra, Java, not Ceylon. F. pardus, leopard, pard. 

 Afr. and Asia, Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, Borneo. F. uncia, ounce, highlands 

 of C. Asia. F. nebulosa, clouded leopard, S.E. Asia, Sumatra, Java, 

 Borneo, Formosa. F. serval, serval, S. Afr. F. catus, wild cat of Eur., 

 British. F. caffra, caffre cat, Afr. and S. Asia, the domestic cat is probably 

 derived from this species. F. caracal, caracal, India, Persia, Arabia, 

 Africa. F. lynx, lynx, stumpy tail, lower earnassial with trace of talon 

 Scandinavia, Russia, N. Asia. F. concolor, puma, Amer. from Canada to 

 Patagonia. F. onca, jaguar, Amer. from Texas nearly to California. F. 

 pardalis, ocelot, tiger-cat, trop. Amer. Cynaelurus Wagler, with 1 sp., 

 Cynaelurus juhatus, the cheeta or hvmting leopard, same distribution as the 

 lion, claws less retractile, talon of upper earnassial without cusp. Several 

 fossil genera are allied here, some placed in separate families ; Proaelurus, 

 Aelurictis, Dinictis, Pogonodon, Hoplophoneus, etc. ; Machaerodus, the 

 sabre-toothed tiger with enormous upper canines, upper Eocene to Pleisto- 

 cene of Europe and Miocene of India, Smilodon, a similar form from Pleis- 

 tocene of America. It is remarkable to find these large and highly special- 

 ised carnivora suddenly appearing and flourishing as far back as the Eocene. 



Fam. 2. Viverridae. Civets, genets ; comparatively small animals 

 with long bodies and heads ; p f or -J m t or f ; upper earnassial usually 

 with two, sometimes with three outer cusps, and an inner cusp at the 

 front end ; lower earnassial with two outer and an inner cusp and 

 a well-developed, cusped talon ; upper molars tritubercular. Audi- 

 tory bulla with septiun. Usually an alisphenoid canal. Carotid 

 canal has a groove on the side of the bulla. Humerus visually with 

 an entepicondylar foramen. Plantigrade or digitigrade ; usually penta- 

 dactyle, but pollex and hallux may be absent ; usually with well-developed 

 perineal scent glands. They are found in the Old World including Mada- 

 gascar, bvit not in Australasia. They are not found either living or 

 extinct in the New World. There are aboiit 26 genera and 69 species. 

 They are known fossil from the Upper Eocene onwards. The denti- 

 tion is primitive in the large nvimber of premolars. The upper ear- 

 nassial essentially resembles that of the Canidae and Mustelidae, and 

 the upper molars resemble those of the Canidae. The lower earnassial 

 resembles that of the older extinct Canidae and Mvistelidae, and were it 

 not for the third lower molar of the Canidae it would be impossible to 

 distinguish the lower jaw of the older Canidae and Viverridae. In the 

 elongation of the skull and its construction behind the orbits the two 

 families are alike and are supposed to be primitive. In fact it seems clear 

 that the Viverridae of the present day resemble in some important features 

 the older Canidae and Mustelidae. 



Cryptoprocta Bennett, sometimes placed with the Felidae on account_of 

 its denition, which is feline ; i f c \ p ^ m \ ; p 1 is minute and tran- 

 sient, the upper earnassial has a small inner cusp ; molar small and placed 



