CARNIVORA. 453 



Forming a transition between the Viverridcz and the Felidce 

 is the family of the Hycznidcz, distinguished by the fact that, 

 alone of all the Carnivora, both pairs of feet have only four 

 toes each. The hind-legs are shorter than the fore-legs, so that 

 the trunk sinks towards the hind-quarters, and the tail is short. 

 The tongue is rough and prickly. The head is extremely 

 broad, the muzzle rounded, and the muscles of the jaw ex- 

 tremely powerful and well developed. The claws are non- 

 retractile. All the molars are trenchant except the last upper 

 molar, which is tuberculate. The upper carnassial has a small 

 internal tubercle, and the lower carnassial is wholly trenchant. 



The earliest fossil member of the Hycenidce is the Hycena 

 Hipparionum of the Pliocene of France, and other species have 

 been obtained in the same country from strata of the same age. 

 Of the Post-Tertiary Hyaenas, the best known and most im- 

 portant is the great Cave-hyaena (Hycena spelcea, fig. 368). 

 This species in many respects resembles the Hyczna crocnta of 



Fig. 368. Skull of Hyana spelcea. Post- Pliocene. 



South Africa ; and it inhabited Britain and the greater part of 

 Europe during the Post-Pliocene period. Its remains often 

 occur in great abundance, and no doubt can be entertained as 

 to its having survived into the human period. 



Here may be considered the genus Hyanodon, which cannot 

 be referred either to the Hycznidcz or Felidce. This remark- 

 able genus has been detected in the Eocene Tertiary of Eng- 

 land, and the Miocene in France, and is noticeable for the 

 great number of its molars, as compared with the existing 

 Fdidce. The dental formula is 



-3 3 i i 4 4 3 3 



'&ri=i'.*'J:$ s "J=J-* 



All the praemolars and molars possessed trenchant edges, 



