1 84 



THE CAT TRIBE. 



l)-nx also was considered to make an ex- 

 cellent roast. This is rather a noticeable 

 fact, seeing that the flesh of beasts of prey- 

 in general, notwithstanding its beautiful 

 white colour, is rendered by its toughness 

 not very appetizing. 



The Fossa.— We introduce here a very 



remarkable animal which is found 

 Madagascar, and which may be desc 

 a Tertiary feline whose existence h 

 continued to the present day. It is tf 

 of the Malagasies, or, in scientific nc 

 ture, Cryptoprocia ferox (fig. 88). 

 1 have called the fossa a Tertian 



Fig. 87.— TL,. MpaLiil. L)ii.\ |/,_,A.i /„ 



and we must actually go back to the Eocene 

 formations in order to meet with another 

 dentition of the kind. In the upper and 

 under jaw there are six incisors as in all 

 Carnivora; but in the upper jaw the two inner 

 pairs are very small with narrow crowns, 

 while the outer pair are much larger, ami 

 have each the form (T a truncated cone. 

 The canines are short, thick, not \-ery sharp 

 at the edges, like the canines of certain 

 bears. After the canines there follow on 

 each side four premolars, the first very 

 small, deciduous; the second with two roots; 

 the third larger than the first two, with a 

 posterior heel and an internal marginal 

 tubercle; while the fourth is the carnassial, 

 with two very sharp cusps and an internal 



process in front. A very small tran 

 placed tubercled tooth comes close 

 the posterior cusp of the carnassial. 

 supernumerary deciduous premolar 

 out of account, the dentition ol th( 

 jaw is that of a feline of the prest 

 The lower jaw has \'ery strong 

 canines, and behind these the same 

 of premolars as the upper jaw (four 

 side), the first again deciduous, the 

 increasing in size from before bac 

 with sharp median cusps, and finall; 

 nassial with two sharp cusps and a \ 

 heel. 



This lower jaw is no longer than 

 a feline, for it has two premolars in 

 But the form and position of the t( 



