5 8o THE CARNIVORES 



upper jaw it has either three or four of these teeth, whereas in all other living 

 canine animals there are not more than two upper molars. The total number of 

 teeth is accordingly either forty-six or forty-eight ; and no other Mammal outside 

 the Marsupial order ever has four molar teeth in both jaws. Indeed, the tenrec is 

 the only one in which there are four of these teeth even in one jaw. Lalande's dog 

 is, therefore, a very interesting animal, and one which retains, perhaps, traces of a 

 Marsupial ancestry lost in other living Mammals, except the tenrec. This species, 

 which is rather smaller than a common fox, comes nearest in external appearance 

 to the fennecs, having enormous ears and a thick, bushy tail. The eyes are unus- 

 ually large ; the limbs are relatively longer than in the fox, but the tail is propor- 

 tionately shorter. The general color of the fur is brownish or iron gray, mottled 

 with yellow; the outer sides of the limbs being nearly black, the under parts 

 whitish, and the tail slaty gray, with a black tip, and more or less distinct dark 

 markings on its upper surface. These animals are natives of South and East 

 Africa ; but very little is known of their habits. They are generally found in open 

 country, dwelling under or among small bushes, and going about in pairs. Although 

 they are said to stand and watch the hunters by the hour together, they are very 

 difficult of approach. 



EXTINCT DOGS 



It has been mentioned that the fossil remains of several living members of the 

 Dog family have been obtained from the superficial deposits of the countries which 

 they severally inhabit. It has also been mentioned that extinct species of the Asi- 

 atic wild dogs and of the African hunting-dog have been found in Europe, thus in- 

 dicating for those two groups a former distribution of wider extent than at present. 

 A number of extinct species belonging to the genus Canis have also been obtained 

 from the Pliocene and upper half of the Miocene deposits of different parts of the 

 world. These, however, are all more or less closely allied to living species, and are 

 accordingly of no very special interest to the evolutionist. 



On the other hand, if we go somewhat further back in the geological record, to 

 the lower portion of the Miocene and the upper part of the Eocene period, we come 

 across remains of more or less decidedly dog-like animals widely different from liv- 

 ing forms. Some of these extinct creatures are, indeed, to a considerable extent, 

 intermediate between dogs and civets ; and thus indicate that the Civet family is 

 probably derived from the ancestors of the Dog family. This enlarges our view of the 

 relationships of the various modern Carnivores to one another, for we have already 

 shown that the hyaenas are closely related to the ancestral civets, and the cats are 

 probably another side branch nearly allied to them. We thus have reason to be- 

 lieve that all the Carnivores with bladder-like tympanic bullae to their skulls 

 namely, cats, civets, hyaenas, and dogs have sprung from a common ancestral 

 stock nearly allied to the modern dogs. The most civet-like of these intermediate 

 extinct animals are known by the name of Cynodidis, and they were mostly creatures 

 of about the size of the fox, with teeth either numerically the same as in the latter, 

 or as in the civet, and with plantigrade feet. 



