-ELUROIDEA 501 
easily definable characters, to regard as natural. It is therefore 
generally mentioned in the following family definitions. 
It must, however, be stated that while the arrangement is a 
convenient one as regards the existing Carnivores, it will not hold 
good when the fossil forms are included. Thus there is ample 
evidence to show that the Dogs and Bears were formerly so inti- 
mately connected that in a paleontological classification the Canide 
cannot be satisfactorily separated from the Urside ; while in another 
direction the Cunide were closely allied to the ancestral Viverride. 
The most important objection against this classification is, however, 
the apparent intimate connection exhibited by fossil forms between 
the Viverride and the JJustelide, which, so far as the present evi- 
dence goes, tends to show that the latter are derived from the 
former. If this be eventually fully proved, it would seem to 
indicate that the Arctoidea are not a natural group; and that the 
resemblances between the Urside and Justelide have been independ- 
ently acquired, in the course of the descent of the one family from 
a Canoid, and of the other from a Viverroid stock. 
Section JELUROIDEA. 
The Atluroidea or Cat-like Carnivores include the Felide, 
Fiverride, Proteleide,and Hyenide. 
The existing representatives of 
this section present the following 
common features. Auditory bulla 
(Fig. 222) much dilated, rounded 
smooth, thin-walled, and (except 
in the Hyenide) divided into two 
chambers by a septum. Bony 
auditory meatus short.  Par- 
occipital process applied to, and 
spread over the hinder part of 
the bulla (Fig. 222). Mastoid 
process never very salient, and 
often obsolete. Carotid canal 
(Fig. 8, p. 38, car) small, some- 
times very inconspicuous. Con- 
dyloid and glenoid foramina con- 
cealed or wanting. Czcum small, 
rarely absent. Os penis generally 
small and irregular (large in 
Cryptoprocta). | Cowper’s glands 
present ; prostate distinctly lobed. 
Some details of the anatomy of 
Fig. 222.—Lett side of the palatal aspect of 
the cranium and mandible of the Suricate (Suri- 
cata tetradactyla). c, Carotid foramen ; J, fissure 
in floor of auditory meatus. From Mivart, 
Proc. Zool. Soc. 1882, p. 184, 
the soft parts will be found under the head of Genefta. 
