An Arrangement of the Families and the Higher 

 Groups of the Mammalia. 



By 



Dr. R. W. Shufeldt. 



Washington, D. C. (U. S. A.) 



-Ln classifying mammals we adopt precisely the same 

 methods as are employed in the classification, or the natural 

 and orderly arrangement, of any other group of animals, as for 

 example, hirds, reptiles, or fish. My views upon the classifi- 

 cation of the Class Aves have already been presented in The 

 American Naturalist several years ago ^ and in the present 

 contribution 1 shall offer a similar provisional scheme of classi- 

 fication for the Glass Mammalia. What I have said in regard 

 to the principles of classification in the case of Birds in my 

 Naturalist paper is equally true with respect to existing and 

 extinct Mammals, for as in the Class Aves, all of the various 

 groups, from the lowest to the highest, bear a true relation to 

 each other, both for times past and present. Such relationships 

 exist among all forms that ever have, or ever will in the future, 

 appear upon this planet. It is the aim of science to discover 

 exactly what these relationships in nature are, and by some 

 means, as graphic as possible, make record of them. 



1 Shufeldt, R. W. An arrangement of the Families and the Higher 

 Groups of Birds. (Amer. Nat. Vol. XXXVIII. Nos. 455, 456. Boston, 

 Mass. Nov. -Dec. 1904, pp. 833-857, figs. 1-6.) 

 Nyt Mag. for Naturv. IL. I. 191 1. 5 



