CARNIVORA. 395 



to the Coatis. The bone-caves of Brazil have yielded re- 

 mains of two species of JVcmta, and a Eacoon has been found 

 in Post-Tertiary dej^osits in Illinois. No certain remains of 

 Oercoleptes are known ; but the Ardocyon 2yri'ma;vits of the 

 Eocene Tertiary of France has been compared with the exist- 

 ing Kinkajous. 



The only remaining family of the Plantigrada is that of 

 the MelidcG or Badgers, characterised by their elongated bodies 

 and short legs, and by the fact that the carnassial tooth has 

 a partly cutting edge, and is not wholly tuberculate as in the 

 Bears. 



The earliest remains of Alclidm are from the Upper 

 Miocene deposits of the Siwalik Hills in India, in which we 

 meet with the living genus Mellivora (comprising the Honey- 

 badgers), and the allied but extinct Ursitaxus. 



Eemains of Badgers have been found in Post-Tertiary de- 

 posits in Europe, and they are probably referable to the 

 existing Meles taxus. The Gluttons {Gido) are also only 

 known from Post-Tertiary accumulations, and the so-called 

 Crulo spelceus of the cavern-deposits of Europe does not appear 

 to be separable from the common Wolverine {Gido luscus). 



Section III. Digitigkada. — In this section of the Carni- 

 vora the heel is raised above the ground, with the whole or 

 the greater part of the metacarpus, so that the animals walk 

 more or less completely on the tips of the toes (fig. 673, c). 

 No absolute line, however, of demarcation can be drawn 

 between the Plantigrade and Digitigrade sections of the Car- 

 nivora, since many forms (e. g., MustelidcB and Viverridm) 

 exhibit transitional characters, and it has even been proposed 

 to place these in a separate section, under the name of Semi- 

 plantigrada. 



The first family of the Digitigrada is that of the Mustelidce, 

 or Weasels and Otters, including a number of small Carnivores, 

 with short legs, elongated worm-like bodies, and a peculiar 

 gliding mode of progression (hence the name of Vermiformes, 

 sometimes applied to the group). 



The Mustelidce appear for the first time during the Miocene 

 period, at which time there existed in the Old World a con- 

 siderable number of types referable to this family. Thus in 



