CARNIVORA. 777 



There is no alisphenoid canal. The dentition of the typical 

 genus Felts is ^f^. The cats are the most specialised of all Car- 

 nivores, and are exclusively adapted for a flesh diet. The 

 sharp claws and pointed canines form powerful offensive 

 weapons ; the cusped cheek-teeth and rasping tongue are em- 

 ployed to separate the flesh from the bones of the prey. 

 Examples. The lion (Felis leo\ in Africa, Mesopotamia, Persia, 

 N. - W. India; the tiger (F. tigris), widely distributed 

 in Asia; the leopard (F. pardtis], in Africa, India, Ceylon, 

 Sumatra, Borneo, etc. ; the wild cat (F. catus] ; the 

 Caflfre cat (F. caffra) of Africa and S. Asia, venerated and 

 mummified by the Egyptians, perhaps ancestral to the 

 domestic cat. 



A high degree oi specialisation for carnivorous habit is well 



illustrated by the sabre-toothed tigers (Machcerodus) of Tertiary 



ages, whose serrated upper canines were sometimes 7 in. long. 



Family Viverridse Old World forms, such as civets ( Viverrd], of 



Africa and India; genets (Genetta), of S. Europe, Africa, and 



S.-W. Asia; ichneumons or mongooses (Herpestes\ in Spain, 



Africa, India, Indo-Malaya. 



Family Proteleidoe represented by Proteles cristatus, the hyaena- 

 like aard-wolf of S. Africa. 



Family HyaenidDe represented by the genus Hyana, found in 

 Africa and S. Asia. The tympanic bulla is not divided by a 

 septum. 



(2) CYNOIDEA Dog-like Carnivores 



Family Canidse including forms intermediate between the cats and 



the bears. The dentition is more generalised than in the 



Felidse, its usual formula is 2H?. Within the tympanic bulla 



there is only a rudimentary septum. The paroccipital process 



in contact with the bulla is prominent. The caecum is either 



short and simple or long and peculiarly folded upon itself. 



Examples. The genus Cants has representatives in all parts 



of the world, the wolves (C. lupus, etc.), the jackals 



(C. aureus, mesomelas, etc.), the domestic dogs (C. famih 



arts), the foxes (C. vulpes, etc.), the Cape hunting dog 



(Lycaon), the bush-dog (Icticyori) of Guiana and Brazil, and 



the primitive Otocyon inegalotis from S. Africa. In the dog 



the dental formula is ^^ ; the upper carnassial or fourth pre- 



molar has a stout bilobed blade, the lower carnassial or first 

 molar has a compressed bilobed blade. The skull is more 

 elongated than in the cats ; the orbits are very widely open 

 posteriorly ; the clavicles are very small ; the limbs are 

 digitigrade ; there are five toes on the fore-feet, but the short 

 thumb does not reach the ground ; there are only four toes 

 on the hind-feet, but in domestic dogs the rudiment of the 

 hallux is sometimes enlarged as the "dew-claw" ; the claws 

 are non-retractile and blunt. 



