DEFINITION OF CARNIVORA 



compressed, not at all like hoofs or nails, though, of 

 course, all these structures are absolutely of the same 

 essential nature, and even intergrade in some groups. 

 This character alone is, however, not sufficient to dis- 

 tinguish the carnivora. Various rodents and insecti- 

 vores possess claws which are more or less sharp. But 

 no rodent possesses what the carnivora always possess, 

 and that is long and strong canine teeth for seizing 

 their living prey. Here again is a character which 

 does not, in conjunction even with the last, absolutely 

 mark off the carnivora from all other mammals, for 

 the insectivora possess the same canines, which are 

 in many cases quite as strongly developed as in the 

 carnivora. By two external characters it is always 

 possible to distinguish between carnivora and in- 

 sectivora, though the otter-like insectivorous creature, 

 the West African Potamogale, is very " carnivorous " 

 in appearance, and only possesses one of these char- 

 acters, and that in not a very marked degree. In the 

 insectivora the upper jaw and nose projects as a rule 

 beyond the lower, and thus forms a kind of proboscis. 

 Again, the skin of the insectivorous mammal has a 

 distinct tendency to run to spines. No carnivore has 

 a proboscis, and none are at all spiny. Finally, while 

 the insectivora are all small, and often quite small, the 

 carnivora are, with the exception of the weasel, at least 

 moderate-sized, and often rather big, as is the case with 

 bears, lions, and tigers. There is at least one obvious 

 internal character which absolutely distinguishes all 

 the living members of the two orders. The carnivora 

 have a better developed brain than the insectivora ; 

 indeed, in the latter it is at a very low ebb, being almost 

 smooth, and the cerebral hemispheres are small. 



Now that we have got at a definition of the carnivora, 

 which includes all of the diverse animals which con- 

 stitute the order, it will be necessary to consider their 



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