Article VI.— THE ANCESTRY OF CERTAIN MEMBERS 

 OF THE CANID/E, THE VIVERRID^, AND PRO- 

 CYONID^. 



By J. L. W'oRTMAN AND W. D. Matthew. 



Plate VI and Ten Text Figures. 



The Eocene deposits of North America have yielded from time 

 to time a large number of remains of primitive flesh-eating mam- 

 mals whose nearest affinities appear to be with the modern 

 Carnivora, although not a few of them, so far as their dentition 

 is concerned, exhibit resemblances to certain of the Insectivora. 

 This group has been held by some to represent a distinct order, 

 and is considered by many authors under the name Creodonta, 

 originally proposed for it by Cope. By others it has been placed 

 as a suborder of the Carnivora, while still others have referred 

 to it under the name Carnivora Primitiva. 



Without entering into a discussion of the merits of this group 

 to rank as a separate order or even a suborder, it is sufficient to 

 observe in the present connection that it is not capable of very 

 exact definition, and if it is desirable to retain a separate grouping 

 of these forms it must be done with the understanding that it is 

 purely as a matter of convenience. 



That they stand in direct ancestral relationship to the later ap- 

 pearing families of the modern Carnivora, there can be no ques- 

 tion whatever, but whether these families arose from one or 

 several points among the Creodonta has never been demonstrated. 

 In fact no actual contact between the two groups has ever been 

 satisfactorily traced, and while many suggestions have been made 

 in regard to these connections, they have, up to the present, been 

 unsupported by any direct proof. 



It is the object of the present paper, therefore, to trace the an- 

 cestry of two important modern families of the Capnivora directly 

 backward into the Creodonta. We will also take occasion to 

 point out the descent of several somewhat aberrant species of the 

 existing Canidse. 



Another important discovery included in the present paper 

 deals with the origin of the American family Procyonidse, which 

 is now shown to have existed as far back as the upper Oligocene. 



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