ARCTOIDEA. 



023 



carnivores by their multituberculate molars and carnassial teeth. They 

 are found in all regions except the Ethiopian and Australasian, and 

 Madagascar. They make their appearance in the Miocene, and are closely 

 connected with the Canidae by the extinct genus Amphicyon, Ursus L., 

 bears, animals of considerable bulk, p ^, m f, vertebrae, C7, D14, L6, 

 So, C8-10 ; claws curved and non retractile ; the three anterior premolars 

 in both jaws small and one-rooted, sometimes absent, p 1 of the lower 

 jaw is small, separated by a wide gap from p '2 and soon falls out ; 10 sp., 

 viz. Xeotrop. 1, Orient. 2, Xearct. 4, Pal. 5. Omnivorous or herbivorous. 

 U. maritimus polar bear, circumpolar ; U. arctos brown bear, Pal. region, 

 is still found in Europe in the Pyrenees, Norway, Hungary and Russia ; 

 U. horribilis, grizzly bear of X. Amer. ; the genus is first found fossil in the 

 Pliocene. Melursus Meyer, sloth bear first upper incisors shed early or 

 absent, with small teeth, feeds on insects, fruit, honey; 1 sp., M. labiatus, 

 India, Ceylon. Aeluropus M. Edw., p | m f ; 1 sp. A. melanoleucus in 

 Thibet, a large herbivorous animal with large and multicuspid, two-rooted 

 (except the first) premolars. There are a few extinct genera, e.g. Arcto- 

 therium, Hyaenarctos. 



Fam. 2. Proeyonidae. i $ G \ p %m % ; carnassial teeth not typically 

 developed, molars broad and tuberculate, upper p 4 quadrituberculate 

 and like the molars ; lower molars quadrangular with two-cusped talon. 

 Alisphenoid canal absent except in Aelurus. Tympanic bulla (sometimes 

 rather inflated) and adjacent parts as in the Ursidae. Tail long. Ente- 

 picondylar foramen present or absent. Feet pentadactyle, plantigrade. 

 Omnivorous. Confined to America save for the genus Adurus which is 

 Oriental. A few fossil species in the Pleistocene of America. Aelurus 

 F. Cuv., the panda, p f m f , p 1 of the lower jaw small and early decid- 

 uous, molars broad and tuberculate, mainly a vegetable feeder ; 1 sp. 

 A. jidgens, rather larger than a cat with thick fur, S.E. Himalaya. Procyon 

 Storr, racoons, p | m f , longish limbs, manus remarkable for handiness and 

 the great mobility of its digits, omnivorous, 2 sp., P. lotor, dips its food in 

 water before eating, X. Amer. ; P. cancrivorus, S. Amer. Bassariscus 

 Rhoads, 1 sp., U.S. and C. Amer. Bassaricyon Allen, 2 sp., S. Amer. 

 Nasua Storr, coati-mundis, arboreal, 2 sp. in X. and S. Amer. Cercoleptes 

 111., the kinkajou, arboreal, in forests, 1 sp., X. and S. Amer. 



Fam. 3. Mustelidae. Weasels, badgers, otters. For the most part 

 bloodthirsty animals with elongated bodies ; i^c^p^m^; upper 

 carnassial (p 4) with two sharp outer cusps, and strong inner cusp ; lower 

 carnassial (m 1) large, with large often excavated talon ; upper molar 

 broad, tritubercular, m 2 in the lower jaw small, soon falling out. Tym- 

 panic bulla and adjacent parts as in Ursidae except that the bulla may be 

 swollen and the paroccipital process pressed against it ; alisphenoid canal 

 absent. Feet usually pentadactyle, plantigrade or digitigrade. Ente- 

 picondylar foramen present or absent. The kidneys are lobed in the otters. 

 They are universally distributed, being absent only in the Australian region 

 and in Madagascar. There are 17 living genera which may be divided into 

 the otter-like (Lutrinae) 9 the badger -like (Melinae)jand the weasel-like 

 (Mitstelincte). The family is known from the Upper Eocene of Europe 

 onwards. Some of the extinct genera show a close approximation to the 

 earlier Viverridae and can scarcely be separated from them. Stenoplesictis 

 with a dentition of i f c \ p m |, and a complete septum in its bulla 

 has even been placed with the Viverridae. Other genera are Palaeoprion- 

 odon, Haplogzle, Stenogale, Plesictis all Upper Eocene, and (some of them) 



