356 



THE CARNIVORES 



B 



RIGHT UPPER FLESH-TOOTH 

 STRIPED HYAENA. 



OF THE 



number of teeth, it is the fifth tooth (m,i} behind the tusk which bites against the 

 specially modified tooth in the upper jaw, as shown in the same figure. This modi- 

 fied lower tooth, which has no deciduous milk predecessor, is thus the first of the 

 molar series. To these two pairs of modified teeth is applied the name of flesh- 

 teeth, as being those specially adapted for cutting the flesh of the victims of the 

 terrestrial Carnivores. 



The upper flesh-tooth, as exemplified in that of the striped hyaena represented 

 in the accompanying figure, consists of an outer blade, and of a strong tubercle on 

 the inner side. The blade, as in the figured 

 specimen, may consist of three lobes, or as 

 in the dogs and civets, of only two such 

 lobes, which bite on the outer side of the 

 lower flesh-tooth, in a manner well known to 

 all who have ever examined the skull of a 

 tiger, lion, dog, etc. The lower flesh-tooth, 

 of which an example is represented in the 

 the next figure, likewise has a large cutting 

 blade on the outer side of its front portion, OUTER (A) AND ORAL (B) ASPECTS OF THE 

 which is invariably divided into two distinct 

 lobes, of which the second is generally the 

 taller. In the more generalized Carnivores, such as the dogs, the second lobe of 

 the blade of this tooth has a small cusp (c} on its inner side ; while posteriorly 

 the tooth is extended in the form of a long heel (d~). The lower flesh-tooth of the 

 more specialized forms, such as the hyaenas and cats, consists, however, only of the 

 J> two-lobed blades, with or 



without a minute inner 

 cusp and a small hind 

 ledge representing the 

 heel. 



Under the general 

 title of cats it is found 

 convenient to include all 

 the living representatives 

 of the extensive family of 



OUTER (A) AND INNER (B) ASPECTS OF THE RIGHT LOWER FLESH- tne FelldtB, the whole of 



TOOTH OF AN EXTINCT DOG-LIKE CARNIVORE. which with the single 



, *, first and second lobes ^b^des ^ c, inner cusp of do. ; d, heel. exception of the hunting- 



leopard, are classed in 



the genus Felis. In this sense lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, pumas, lynxes, 

 and the smaller species more nearly allied to the domestic cat, are all designated 

 Cats. 



The members of the Cat family may be regarded as the ideal representatives 

 of the Carnivores, being those most completely adapted in all parts of their 

 structure for the pursuit and destruction of living prey. Their long, lithe bodies 

 exhibit in its fullest perfection the combination of strength and agility distinc- 



