SKELETON OF TIGER. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE CARNIVORES, Order CARNIVORA. 



THE CAT-TRIBE. 



Family FELID^. 



UNDER the common title of Carnivores, or Flesh-eaters, zoologists include all the 

 members of that extensive assemblage of placental 1 Mammals, comprising cats, 

 civets, hyaenas, dogs, bears, weasels, etc., together with their aquatic allies the seals 

 and walruses. The name refers to their most distinctive habit, that of subsisting 

 on the flesh of other animals ; but it must by no means be assumed that all 

 Carnivores are entirely or even chiefly flesh-eaters, the bears being notable 

 exceptions. Neither must it be assumed, on the other hand, that the Carnivores 

 are the sole flesh-eating Mammals ; since, as we have seen, many of the Lemurs 

 and Insectivores will eat the flesh of other Vertebrates, while one group of Mar- 

 supials is almost exclusively carnivorous. With the exception of the members of 

 the last-named group, which are otherwise broadly distinguished, there is, however, 

 no assemblage of Mammals which is so generally carnivorous as the present one, 

 and accordingly the name by which it is designated is the most appropriate that 

 could have been selected. 



1 The term " placental " refers to the circumstance that the embryos of the higher Mammals are connected during 

 intra-uterine life with the body of the female parent by means of an organ called the placenta, through which the 

 blood of the parent communicates with that of the offspring. The Marsupials have no such connection. 



