210 FAMILY FELID^E; TIGER, LEOPARD, AND PANTHER. 



off a large heifer or antelope, as easily as a cat carries off a rat. 

 The muscles which raise the jaw are of enormous size ; and those 

 which support the head, as well as the ligamentum nuchce which 

 runs along the spinous processes of the vertebrae to the occiput 

 (ANIM. PHYSIOL., 29), are very highly developed. 



188. The Tiger must be regarded as the typical species of 

 the family ; presenting, as it does, all the peculiarities of the 

 group, most strongly marked. It is exclusively confined to the 

 south-east of Asia, and to the larger islands of the Asiatic 

 Archipelago ; where its ravages are often terrific. It is equal 

 in size to the Lion, but of a more elongated form, and is pre- 

 eminently graceful in its movements ; the head, also, is shorter 

 and more rounded. Its body and tail are marked by bands of a 

 dark colour ; and these are much more constant (although the 

 particular shade varies) than the mane and other peculiarities of 

 the Lion. The presence of dark bands or patches on a tawny 

 ground, may be regarded as very characteristic of the Felidae in 

 general ; and this is another point in which there is a deficiency 



FIG. 101. PANTHBR. 



in the Lion. The Leopard and. Panther, between which it is not 

 easy -to distinguish, are more widely spread through the tropical 



