TTESUS, 193 



of badgers, no bears being known to live in holes dug by them- 

 selves. 



In this family there are two true molars in the upper and three 

 in the lower jaw, all having broad, flat, tuberculated crowns. The 

 upper sectorial differs from that of other Caruivora in wanting the 

 inner root ; the tooth has a small posterior inner lobe without a 

 distinct fang, and looks much like a small true molar. The upper 

 molars are all in one line, the last having its longer axis not trans- 

 verse, but in the same direction as that of the others. The auditory 

 bulla is very little inflated, its lower surface being almost flat. 



Much difference of opinion exists as to the generic subdivisions 

 of the family, but most naturalists place the common Indian bear, 

 or sloth-bear, in a distinct genus from true Ursus. The two 

 genera found within Indian limits are thus distinguished : — 



Six incisors in the upper jaw Ursus. 



Four incisors in the upper jaw JMkluhsus. 



Bears are found throughout the Pala^arctic, Oriental, and 

 Nearctic regions, and one species occurs on the Andes in South 

 America ; none are known to inhabit Africa south of the Atlas, or 

 Australia. 



The remains of one species of bear, Ursus namadicus, have been 

 found in tlie Pleistocene Nerbudda beds of Central India ; the 

 species was probably allied to U. malayanus. Another form, U. 

 theobaldi, of which a skull has been met with in the PUocene 

 Si«aliks, may have been an ancestral type of MclnrsKs ursitiKs. 

 Besides these traces of three species belonging to the extinct ursine 

 genus Hifoiaarctas occur in the Siwalik beds. 



Genus URSUS, Linn. (17(3G). 

 Syn. Helarctos, Ilorsfleld (1825). 



The feet are broad and completely plantigrade, with the soles 

 naked ; the live toes of each foot all well developed and armed 

 with long, compressed, and moderately curved, non-retractile claws. 

 Tail Very short. Ears small, erect, rounded, hairy. PupU round. 

 Mamuue 0. 



Vertebrae : C. 7, D. 14, L. 6, S. 5, C. 8-10. Skull elongate 

 (except in U. malayanus) ; orbits small and incomplete behind : 

 palate prolonged considerably behind last molars. An alisphenoid 

 canal present. There is a marked projection inside the base of the 

 lower jaw near the angle, as in seals. 



Dentition: i,|, (i.\~, pm. ^^, m. |5^. The three anterior 

 premolars above and below are small, one-tooted, and frequently 

 wanting ; the second especially, in bo h jaws, being generally lost 

 in adult skulls. The upper sectorial is consitlerably smaller than 

 either of the true molars, which are both longer than broad, with 

 flattened, tuberculated grinding-surfaces, much worn down in old 

 animals. The second is much the larger, and has a large back- 

 ward prolongation or heel. In the lower jaw the tirst premolar is 



o 



