CHAPTER VI 



THE LION 



Introduction to family Felidce (Cats) 



The existing cats form a well-circumscribed group or 

 family, familiar to every one as the Felidcs. They are very 

 highly specialized and farther removed from the original 

 carnivore stem than any of the other groups, or, putting it 

 more idiomatically, they are the last word in carnivorous 

 mammals. Their specialization concerns chiefly the short- 

 ening of the jaws, the enlarging of the orbits to accommo- 

 date the large nocturnal eyes, the development of retrac- 

 tile claws, and the loss of the molar teeth, the function of 

 which has been usurped by the development of the pre- 

 molars into enlarged cutting teeth. The dentition has been 

 so reduced that the cat may be said to have but eight teeth, 

 the four dagger-like, tearing canine teeth and the four long, 

 knife-edged carnassial or last premolar teeth. The cat with 

 these eight teeth and its retractile claws has battled very 

 successfully for a place on the earth and has established itself 

 in every corner of the world with the exception of the polar 

 regions, Australia, and its neighboring islands. Two genera 

 are represented in Africa, the familiar Felis and the aber- 

 rant genus, Acinonyx, of which the cheetah is typical. 

 Acinonyx is characterized by its non-retractile, dog-like 

 claws, abbreviated snout, high, dome-shaped skull, which 

 gives the head a peculiarly spherical shape, and the slender, 



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