THE FLESH-EATING PREDATORY MAMMALS 119 



of ochre and grey are scattered large tracts of blackish fur, which 

 on the stomach and thighs break up into spots. These black 

 blotches also extend over the limbs and the base of the tail. 

 The genus Lycaon presents one archaic feature marking it off 

 from other existing dogs : it has considerable traces of the 

 collar-bone, which in the modern representatives of the dog 

 tribe is reduced to a mere cartilaginous rudiment. In many 

 respects, however, the genus approximates closely to the Lupine 

 group of true dogs. The present range of the genus is confined 

 to Africa, south of the Sahara, chiefly to Eastern and Southern 

 Africa ; but a jaw bone, resembling that of the Lycaon in the 

 peculiar last lower premolar, was found in a cave deposit in 

 Glamorganshire, and therefore seemed to show the existence of 

 a hypothetical Lycaon anglicus in Wales and probably in England 

 during the Pleistocene period. 



Genus : CANIS. THE TRUE DOGS 



The dental formula of this genus is normally three pairs of 

 incisors, one pair of canines, four pairs of premolars, and two 

 pairs of molars in the upper jaw, the same number of canines, 

 incisors, and premolars in the lower jaw, but generally three, or 

 abnormally four, molars in the lower jaw. One group of dogs, 

 the sub-genus Cuon, has lost the third molar in the lower jaw. 

 On the other hand, an American dog (Cams cancrivorus) some- 

 times has three pairs of molars in the upper jaw. The fourth 

 premolar, or upper carnassial tooth, consists of a stout cutting 

 blade with a scarcely developed anterior lobe (differing thereby 

 from the cats), and a compressed ridge forming the posterior lobe. 

 The tooth which meets this in the lower jaw is the first molar, 

 which is a very large tooth with a strong compressed blade 

 divided into two lobes, the hinder of which is the larger and more 

 pointed. The remainder of the tooth is broad, low, and tuber- 

 culated. The collar bones are very rudimentary, represented by 

 little else than cartilage. There are five toes on the fore feet, 

 the first, or thumb, being very short and at some distance from 

 the ground. Although there are only four toes visible in the 



