22 6 THE FOOD OF ANIMALS 



Asia, are for the most part adapted for living on a mixed diet. 

 The species, for example, which belong to the typical Mascarene 

 genus Lemur (see vol. i, p. 79), feed on fruits and other vegetable 

 matters, as well as on nestlings, eggs, lizards, and small inverte- 

 brates. The lower incisor teeth slope forwards, an arrangement 

 which appears to be of use for removing the firm coverings of 

 certain fruits, while the canines are sufficiently large to suggest 

 partly carnivorous habits, and the cheek-teeth have crowns which 

 are sufficiently broad to break up vegetable food, and at the same 

 time sufficiently sharp to negotiate animal prey. 



FLESH-EATING MAMMALS (CARNIVORA) 



The flesh -eating members of the great order CARNIVORA, 

 including the most typical beasts of prey, have already been 

 pretty fully dealt with, but certain familiar omnivorous species 

 belonging to the same order require mention here. The structure 

 of their digestive organs, especially the teeth, diverges considerably 

 from what is found in a cat, tiger, or wolf. Although the stomach 

 is always simple, the digestive tube of those species which affect 

 a mixed diet is, as we might expect, longer than in the purely 

 carnivorous types. 



Reference to what has already been said about the typically 

 carnivorous dentition of a Cat (p. 6) will show that all the 

 teeth are specially constructed in relation to the securing and 

 subsequent division of living prey. Attention may particularly be 

 directed to the large, sharp, tusk-like canines, and the knife-edged 

 cheek-teeth. In omnivorous species the front teeth and the 

 anterior cheek-teeth retain the carnivorous character, but the 

 back teeth (molars) belonging to the latter series (molars) possess 

 crowns more or less adapted for crushing vegetable food, as shown 

 by their breadth and the presence of blunt tubercles. 



CIVETS. Some omnivorous forms are included among the 

 Civets (Viverrines), a group including small cat-like forms re- 

 lated to the Cats proper (Felidae). Of these the best examples 

 are the Palm-Civets (genus Paradaxurus) of South and South- 

 east Asia, climbing forms which prey upon birds and their eggs, 

 and also turn their attention to domesticated poultry. A well- 

 known species is the Palm -Cat (Paradoxums typus) (fig. 450), 

 which not only feeds upon birds and eggs, but also plays havoc 



