rELIDiE. 53 



^LUROIDEA. 

 Family FELID^. 



This, the most typical and highly specialized group of flesh- 

 eating maininals, and that to which the term " beasts of prey " is 

 especially applicable, comprises the various kinds of cat, all of 

 which, despite great differences in size, are closely allied and resemble 

 each other in almost all details of structure. In the cat, the whole 

 organism is peculiarly adapted for the capture and killing of other 

 animals for food ; the armature of teeth and claws, the power of 

 speed for a short distance, the excessive muscular development 

 and activity, are all combmed to enable a feline to seize and kill 

 animals, in some cases, superior in size to itself *. 



The cats are distinguished from all other families of Carniuora 

 by having a rounder head and more highly specialized teeth ; the 

 canines and sectorial, or flesh-teeth, in particular being highly 

 developed weapons for cutting and tearing, whilst the remaining 

 teeth of the molar series are poorly developed. The claws also are 

 adapted for inflicting severe wounds, and are applied to the 

 armature of a foot worked by powerful muscles, and, in the case 

 of the fore legs, with unusual freedom of action, as may easily be 

 seen by comparing the movements of a cat's fore limb with those 

 of a dog's. The vertebra? are C. 7, D. 13, L. 7, «. 3, C. 13-29. 

 There is no alisphenoid canal. 



The dental formula in the Felidce is i. ^, c. \~, pm. -^ or 

 ^^, m. ^^. The outer incisors are much larger than the others, 

 especially in the upper jaw. The canines have, in many species, 

 a sharp hinder edge. The anterior upper premolar is small, has a 

 single root (except in F. planiceps), and is often lost in old skulls, 

 whilst it is always wanting in the adults of some species, as in 

 F. ruhiginosa and the Lynxes. The second upper premolar is two- 

 rooted, pointed, with a large central lobe preceded by one small 

 cusp and followed by two. The third upper premolar, the sectorial 

 or flesh-tooth, is by far the largest of the molar series, and bears 

 three roots or fangs, with a crown consisting normally of four 

 lobes, three along the inner margin and an inner lobe, the develc^D- 

 ment of which varies in different species. The hindmost tooth is 

 the true molar, which is small, bears two roots and a flattened 

 crown, and is placed with its longer axis nearly at right angles to 

 that of the pixMuolars. This tooth, like the anterior premolar, is 

 often lost in old animals. 



The teeth of the molar series in the lower jaw consist of two 

 premolars, similar in shape, each being, like the second upper 

 premolar, quadricuspid, with two roots, the anterior premolar 

 rather smaller than the other; behind these is the sectorial, or 



* For a complete account, of tbe cat's auatomy, see Dr. St. George Mivart's 

 work entitled 'The Cat,' published in 1881. 



