464 CANID&, CANINE. CANIS. 
Unlike Cats, which depend upon a stealthy approach and sudden 
spring to secure their prey, the members of the Canidz run their’s 
down in the open, frequently giving cry as they speed onward in the 
chase. The species most dreaded are the great timber wolves, which, 
when rendered desperate by hunger, assemble in packs, and do not 
hesitate to attack any animal on their domain, not even man himself. 
Jackals and Coyotes are little wolves by comparison, the former 
inhabitants of the Old World, the latter of the New. Wild Dogs are 
also natives of the Eastern Hemisphere in parts of Central Asia, and 
the Oriental region; none are found in North America. The Vulpine 
group has many species of true foxes, as well as some genera con- 
taining doglike animals of the wolf series, like the Cape Hunting Dog 
of Africa (Lycaon pictus) and the Bush Dog of South America 
([cticyon venaticus). The variations in the structure of the members 
of the Canide are very slight, consisting in the number of molar 
teeth, some possessing more, others less, and in the case of the Hunt- 
ing Dog, fewer toes, and the same number on all feet. Trifling 
variations in the skull and the size of the teeth have been seized 
upon for specific distinction, but like the numberless shades of color 
in their coats, but little dependence can be placed on the majority of 
these characters for a satisfactory specific diagnosis. The gradations 
from one form to another in all the members of this family would 
seem to defy.all efforts to affix a boundary to many of those desig- 
nated as worthy of separate rank. 
Fam. Ill. Canidze. Wolves. Foxes. 
St. George Mivart. Monograph of the Canide, 1890. 
C. H. Merriam. Review of the Coyotes, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 
1897, p. 19. 
Claws not retractile; feet digitigrade; four toes on hind foot, five 
on fore foot, one rudimentary situated high above the others, some- 
times absent; bulle inflated; paroccipital process in contact with 
bulla. 
Subfam. I. Canine. 
8%. Canis. 
643. Lt. pa aa 
1.23; Ct; Pt; M2 = a2. 
Canis Linn., Syst. Nat., 1, 1758, p. 38; 1,1766, p. 56: Type Cants 
familiaris Linneus. 
Lupus Frisch, Nat. Syst. vierfiiss. Thiere, in Tab., 1775. Oken. 
Schrb. Naturg. 1816, Zodl. 2te Abth., p. 1039. 
