MAMMALIA 305 



they have been crossed and interbred with many varieties before reaching 

 the " house cat " of to-day. The domestication of the cat is very remote. 

 A tablet dating from 1600 B. c. has on it the representation of a cat. 

 " Rows of skilfully wrapped mummies of cats in richly adorned cases" may 

 be seen at Cairo, showing that ancient Egyptians must have held them 

 in reverence. 



The hunting leopard (Cyncelu'rus jubatus), of Africa, India, Persia, and 

 Turkestan, has longer legs and less retractile claws than the true cats. In 

 India it has been trained for ages to capture game for its masters. 



The civets (Viver'ridoe) are comparatively small animals, with usually 

 five digits and with non-retractile or very incompletely retractile claws. 

 There is usually a scent gland, which is the source of the civet perfume. 



The genus hyena ( Hyen'idae) comprises three living species. The body 

 is bulky, the legs strong, the head big and dog-like, and the jaws strong. 

 They are nocturnal scavengers, though sometimes seizing small animals. 

 They are found in Europe, Asia, and Africa, but not in America. 



Geologic Distribution. "The first Carnivores appear in the 

 order Creodon'ta, plantigrade forms of slightly differentiated 

 dentition (no carnassials) ; they present marked resemblances to 

 marsupials, insectivores, as well as to the Condylar'thra,<ihe an- 

 cestral ungulates." 1 There is a long gap, both in time and 

 structure, between the few Eocene carnivores and their supposed 

 ancestors among the Creodonts, which are generalized types 

 as hinted above. In the late Miocene the present groups 

 of Carnivora become more or less distinct by the intermediate 

 " stock forms becoming extinct." 



Use to Man. Hundreds of lion skins are sold annually, 

 thousands of wild-cat skins, and more than a million skins of the 

 common cat are made into cheap furs. 



The aquatic carnivora (Pinnipe' did) include the seals, sea- 

 lions, and walruses. They have acquired a somewhat fish-like 

 form. The limbs are flattened into broad flippers, the five 

 long toes are webbed, and the nails are often rudimentary. 

 Molars and premolars are similar (carnassial absent). 



The northern fur seal (Ota'ria ursina) and the Patagonian maned sea-lion 

 (O. jubata) belong to the genus Otaria, which is mainly antarctic. The har- 

 bor seal is the common form along the Atlantic Coast. There is a colony 

 of sea-lions on the Pacific. In the fur seals there is a dense, soft under fur. 

 The Alaska seal has its summer residence and breeding grounds in one or 

 two islands of the Behring Sea. In winter they are absent from these 

 islands, and "their whereabouts is a matter of much speculation." They 

 live in groups, consisting of a single old male and five to twenty females. 

 The young males a year or two old herd by themselves, maturing at the 



1 Hertwig. 



