134 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



Order CARNIVORA: Dogs, Cats, and Their Relatives 



The larger carnivorous mammals that compete with man for 

 food, destroy domestic animals, or threaten man's security, 

 have been exterminated or greatly reduced in settled areas. 

 Seven families of true carnivores are recognized : 



(1) Canidae, the dog family, includes wolves, jackals, foxes, 

 and some less familiar types. Representatives of this family 

 are found throughout the world, except in New Zealand and 

 some of the oceanic islands. 



(2) Ursidae, the bear family, formerly occurred throughout 

 Europe, Asia, and North America and in the East Indies, the 

 Atlas Mountains of North Africa, and in the South American 

 Andes. 



(3) Procyonidae, the raccoon family, includes the pandas, 

 the coati, the kinkajou, and the cacomistle or ring-tailed cat. 

 Except for the Asiatic pandas this group is confined to the 

 New World. 



(4) Mustelidae, the weasel family, includes the small fur 

 bearers weasels, minks, otters forms that suffer persecution 

 chiefly for the sake of their valuable pelts. The weasels and 

 their relatives occur in all regions except the Australian and 

 the oceanic islands. 



(5) Hyaenidae, the hyaenas and the aard-wolf, are restricted 

 in Recent times to Africa and southern Asia. The African 

 aard-wolf is a termite-eating mammal with degenerate teeth 

 and jaws; it is rare everywhere in its range. 



(6) Viverridae, the genets, civets, and their allies, are catlike 

 or weasellike carnivores with partially retractile claws and with 

 numerous cheek teeth. Representatives are found in the Ethi- 

 opian, Oriental, and parts of the Palearctic regions. 



(7) Felidae, the cat family, is world wide in distribution, 

 except for the Australian and polar Regions and the oceanic 

 islands. Except for the fossane (Cryptoprocta) of Madagascar, 

 which is genetlike, the cats are a very uniform group, differing 

 in little except size, length of tail, and color pattern. 



Four families are considered in the present volume : 



(1) Ursidae: Three races of the black bear, all the grizzlies, 

 and Alaskan brown bears. 



(2) Mustelidae, weasels, martens, mink, and wolverene: 20 

 species and subspecies, belonging to three genera, are discussed 

 here; all are valuable fur bearers. 



