THE ORDERS OF MAMMALS 



423 



true vampire bats inhabit South America. They live on the 

 blood of horses, cattle, and other warm-blooded animals, and 

 sometimes attack sleeping human beings. Their front teeth, 

 which are very sharp, cut the skin, and the oozing blood is 

 lapped up. 



FIG. 289. Red fox. (From Stone and Cram. 

 Copyright by Doubleday, Page and Co.) 



Flesh-eating Mammals. The teeth of carnivorous animals 

 are adapted for eating meat. The front teeth, or incisors (Fig. 

 276), are small and of little use; the canines (c), or eyeteeth, 

 are very large and pointed, enabling the animal to capture and 

 kill its prey; the premolars (pm /, pm 4) and the first molar in 

 the lower jaw (m i) have sharp-cutting edges ; the other molars 



