THE TEETH OF CARNIVORA. 377 



the reduction in number of the molar series, those that 

 remain being without broad crushing surfaces, in the place 

 of which a pointed or sharp-edged form prevails. 



Thus the more numerous the teeth of the molar series, 

 and the broader their crowns, the more likely it is that the 

 creature subsists upon a mixed diet ; and a gradation may 

 be traced even in individual teeth, such as the carnassials, 

 in which a gradual increase in relative size of the internal 

 tubercular cusps of the upper, and of the posterior tubercles 

 of the lower teeth, may be traced as we pass from the ex- 

 amination of the teeth of Felidce, to those of mixed feeders, 

 such as the Arctoidea. 



It is a familiar observation that immature animals differ 

 less from their allies than do the respective adults, and this 

 is exemplified by the milk dentition of the present order. 



With the exception of the Felidce, which have only two 

 lower milk molars, the terrestrial carnivora, so far as is 

 known, all have the same milk dentition. 



.31 3 

 i - c - m _ . 

 3 1 3 



Cynoidea. The dog presents almost the full typical 

 number of teeth, one upper molar (present in an extinct 

 dog-like animal, the Amphicyon) alone being wanting. 



.31 42 



i _ c - pm - m _ . 

 3 1 J 4 3 



The incisors are small, the outermost being the largest ; 

 the upper incisors have, as in a great many Carnivora, a 

 tri-lobed shape, the surface of the crown being marked by a 

 transverse groove into which the apex of the lower tooth 

 fits, and the anterior of the lobes thus formed being notched 

 so as to divide it into two. 



The canines, large and conical, are somewhat compressed 



