72 THE NEOG^ilC REALM. [CHAP. 



from the north in company with the other late immigrants. The 

 dog tribe (Canidcs) likewise comes under the category of cosmo- 

 politan groups, and has numerous South American species, 

 although only one from the Monte Hermoso beds dates earlier 

 than the Pampean. It may be mentioned that while true wolves 1 

 are absent from this realm, all the continental living members of 

 the genus Cants found in it form a group by themselves, quite 

 distinct from the true foxes of other regions. Very remarkable is the 

 occurrence in the Pampean of a large species (C. moreni) perfectly 

 distinct from all those now inhabiting the country, and presenting 

 some curious approximations in the structure of the skull to 

 domestic dogs. Peculiar to the realm is the bush-dog (Icticyori), 

 of Guiana and Brazil, a small short-haired and short-legged 

 species differing from all other members of the family by the 

 small size and reduced number of the molar teeth. Its remains 

 occur in the Brazilian caves, but are unknown from earlier 

 deposits ; and it may thus be regarded as a comparatively late 

 immigrant from the north, which perhaps developed its special 

 characters after its arrival in the country. Of the Ursidce. there is 

 but a single existing species in Neogaea, namely the spectacled 

 bear ( Ursus ornatus) of the highlands of Chili and Peru ; but 

 there occur in the Pampean formation of the Argentine remains of 

 an allied extinct genus known as Arctotherium, another species of 

 the same genus being recorded from the superficial deposits of 

 California. Far more characteristic of the realm are the raccoons 

 and coatis (Procyonid<z\ although several of these are common to 

 North America. Till recently it was considered that this family 

 was entirely restricted to the New World, but the Oriental cat-bear 

 or panda (Ailurus) is now included ; and since fossil remains of 

 the latter genus have been discovered in the Pliocene of England, 

 while those of raccoons and of the extinct genus Leptarctus occur 

 in that of the United States, it is practically certain that the group 

 was formerly widely distributed over the northern hemisphere. 

 Among this family the raccoons (Procyon) extend over most parts 

 of both North and South America ; the coatis (Nasua} range from 

 Mexico to Paraguay; the kinkajou (Cercoleptes) is found from 



1 The Falkland Island wolf (Cants antarcticus) forms a remarkable ex- 

 ception. 



