THE ORDERS OF MAMMALS 



423 



true vampire bats inhabit South America. They live on the 

 blood of horses, cattle, and other warm-blooded animals, and 

 sometimes attack sleeping human beings. Their front teeth, 

 which are very sharp, cut the skin, and the oozing blood is 

 lapped up. 



Fig. 289. — Red fox. (From Stone and Cram. 

 Copyright by Doubleday, Page and Co.) 



Flesh-eating Mammals. — The teeth of carnivorous animals 

 are adapted for eating meat. The front teeth, or incisors (Fig. 

 276), are small and of little use; the canines (c), or eyeteeth, 

 are very large and pointed, enabling the animal to capture and 

 kill its prey ; the premolars (pm 1, pm 4) and the first molar in 

 the lower jaw (m 1) have sharp-cutting edges ; the other molars 



