CHAPTER XXVIII 



THE CARNIVORA 



THE Carnivora, or flesh-eating Mammals, are divided into two 

 great groups, or sub-orders (i) the Fissipedia, or "split-feet," 

 so-called from the fact that the feet are divided into well-marked 

 toes, and comprising the terrestrial Carnivora ; and (2) the Pinni- 

 pedia, or " fin-feet/' so-called from the fact that the toes are bound 

 together by skin, forming fins or flippers rather than feet, and 

 comprising the aquatic Carnivora. 1 



The three families of the Pinnipedia comprise the Walrus, 

 the so-called Sea-Lions and Sea-Bears, more distinctively known 

 as Eared Seals, and the ordinary or Earless Seals. Their remark- 

 able adaptation to a purely aquatic life, coupled with the fact 

 that the present rapid diminution in their numbers points to an 

 early period for their total extinction, makes them a most interest- 

 ing group of animals. Sufficiently different among themselves in 

 general aspects and habits as to be recognised at a glance, the 

 three families, nevertheless, have characteristic features common 

 to all, wherefrom the sub-order has received its name. Their 

 toes are united nearly throughout by a web or membrane, as in 

 a duck's foot, which converts the paws into broad, fin-like organs 

 (the flippers), well adapted for swimming purposes. The body 

 is long, usually ample and fleshy in the neck and shoulders, but 

 narrows taperingly behind towards the rump. The head is either 

 flattish and elongated, or more or less rounded, but in ail cases 

 relatively small to the bulk of the animal. 



The present range of the Walrus is a narrow belt girding 

 Labrador, Hudson's and Baffin's Bays, and skirting the East 

 Greenland coast towards Spitsbergen and Nova Zembla, on to 

 Behring Strait and the islands of Alaska. Thinned by its 



1 The following account of the Carnivora has been chiefly compiled from the 

 writings of Dr. Murie and Professors W. K. and T. J. Parker. 



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