THE ANATOMY OP THE TONGUES OF THE MAMMALIA. 129 



11. The Comparative Anatomy of the Tongues of the 

 Mammalia. — VIII. Carnivora. By Charles F. 

 SoNNTAG, M.D., F.Z.S., Anatomist to the Society. 



[Keceivecl November 20, 1922 : Read March 6, 1923.] 



(Text-figures 15-24.) 



Contents. 



Page 



Introduction 129 



Suborder Fissipedia 129 



Section iEluroidea 129 



,, Cynoidea 141 



„ Arctoidea 143 



Suborder Pinnipedia 145 



Systematic 148 



Comparisons with the Cetacea 151 



Bibliograph J'- 152 



Introduction. 



The materials on which the present paper is based consisted of 

 preserved and fresh specimens in the Society's Prosectorium and 

 the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. Nearly five 

 hundred tongues, representative of most genera were examined. 

 Characters were observed which are of considerable value for 

 purposes of classification, and a systematic arrangement of the 

 tongues of the Felidae, based on these features, agrees closely 

 with Pocock's system (24), which was founded on exter-nal and 

 cranial characters. It will be seen that the tongvies difier from 

 those described in my papers on the Primates (29), Ungulata, 

 Sii-enia, and Cetacea (30). Speaking generally the mechanical 

 power is frequently greater and the gustatory organs are fewer 

 than in many animals already described. The conical papillae 

 have strong, horny sheaths. 



The tongues of the Fissipedia differ in many respects from those 

 of the Pinnipedia. 



Suborder FISSIPEDIA. 

 Section ^luroidea. 



The tongue is long and comparatively narrow in all species, but 

 it is wider in Felis leo, F. tigris, and F. onca than in other cats. 

 It thickens progressively from before backwards, but the free part 

 is never very thick. The sides are parallel or tapering, but the 

 tongue is spatular in a few cases. The apex is truncated or 

 rounded, but it is usually devoid of a notch. It is beset with 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1923, No. IX. 9 



