7 6 



MAMMALIA ORDER Il\ CARNIVORA. 



F r g. 45. THE PANDA (^wru*- fulgens). 



Raccoons are almost omnivorous animals, obtaining much of their food along 

 the banks of lakes and streams, and swimming well. Much of their time 

 is, however, spent in trees, in hollows of which the young are brought forth ; 



and in North America they hibernate dur- 

 ing the cold season. The cacomistles 

 (Bassariscus), represented by one species 

 from the Southern United States and Mexico 

 and another from Central America, form 

 a closely allied genus, distinguished by the 

 more slender build, sharper nose, longer 

 tail, and less completely plantigrade feet. 

 Another genus is Bassaricyon, of Central 

 America, which has raccoon -like teeth, but 

 an external form very like that of the 

 kinkajou. The coatis (Nasua), which range 

 from Central America to Paraguay, are easily 

 recognised by the prolongation of the 

 muzzle into a long and somewhat upturned 

 mobile snout ; the long and tapering tail 

 being ringed. The dentition is similar to 

 that of the raccoons, with the exception that 

 the upper canines are longer and more pointed, and the molars smaller. 

 Coatis are arboreal animals, going about the forest in small parties, and 

 feeding chiefly on birds, eggs, insects, lizards, and fruits. Lastly, the 

 kinkajou (Cercoleptes caudivolwdus) differs from all the rest in its long and 

 taper tail being prehensile ; the number of teeth being 36. It is a pale 

 yellowish-brown animal, of the size of a cat, entirely nocturnal, and arboreal 

 in its habits. 



The last family of the land Carnivora is the large and widely-spread one of 

 the weasels, which includes the otters, badgers, shunks, etc. Except in the 



ratels (where there is 

 Weasel Tribe. but a single pair in each 

 Family Muste- jaw), the members of 

 lidce. this family may be dis- 



tinguished from the two 

 preceding ones by having one pair of 

 upper, and two of lower molars, and 

 by the inner portion of the upper molars 

 being longer from back to front than 

 the outer blade. The auditory bulla 

 of the skull is but little inflated. 



The otters (Lutra) form an aquatic 

 group characterised by the short and 

 rounded feet, the webb- 

 Otters. ed toes, tho small, curv- 



ed, and blunt claws, 



and the broad and flattened head. The jaws are short, with large, closely 

 packed teeth ; the upper molar being especially large, quadrangular in form, 

 and its inner tubercular portion much expanded from back to front ; and 

 all the cheek teeth sharply cusped. The body is very elongated, the ears 

 are short and rounded, the limbs short, the tail long, thick, and tapering 

 rapidly, and the fur very short and close. In certain species the claws 



Fig. 46. CACOMISTLE (Bassariscus astutus). 



