204 



Tin-: BEARS. 



while its usual \'oicc was a sort of twitter. 

 It ate only \'cgctablc food. 



As a transitional form between the Small 

 Bears, on the one hand, and the True Bears 

 on the other, we mention a very remarkable 

 animal which was discovered a few years acjo 

 by Peter David in the hi"h forests of Central 



Tibet, and which has been called Ailiiropiis 

 mclanokiicns (fic(. 104). It is of the size of 

 OLir brown bear, but has a wliite body, while 

 the feet, ears, anrl enrl of the tail are black. 

 Each eye is surrounded by a black ring, and 

 the black colfjur fT the foredegs is continued 

 over the should(;r to the middle line of the 







J'if^. ro4. — Ailur 



back, so that the animal appears to carry a 

 black yoke. The dentition approaches that 

 of the true bears, comprising in all 40 teeth. 

 Of the four premolars the first is very small 

 and probably deciduous; the others increase 

 in size from before backwards, and gradually 

 approach in the form of their tubercles the 

 two very large molars, which have a wrinkled 

 In genera! the dentition is 



grinding surface. 



similar to that of the true bears, but it never- 

 theless presents some rather important differ- 

 ences. The very broad feet are ] placed on the 

 ground in walking for only half their kmgth, 

 as in the panda, to which this larg(; animal 

 has certain points of resemblance in the form 

 of the head and skull. Altogether it is placf;d 

 by all the known charactf;rs of its structure 

 between the panda and the true bears, of 

 which it reminds us by its long coarse fur. 



The animal inhaljits the almost inaccessible 

 heights of the mountains of Eastern Tibet, 

 feeds chielly on roots, bamboo canes, and 

 other \egetable substances, ne\'er leaves its 

 domain to a]jproach human dwellings; and 

 is known onl\- to a h-w native hunters who 

 roam over these lofty mountains. 



THE LARGE BEARS 



(I'RSID.A). 



W'itli 42 Icelli, 4 premolars nlxne and IjcIow, 2 molars 

 in tlic iip|)tr j.iw, 3 in tlic lower, all ^s•itl1 flat wrinkled 

 rrou-ns, on \vlii( li are low Llunt tubercles. 



All thes(; tf;eth are present immediately 

 after the change in the dentition in early 

 life-, but they all rr;main only in some species, 

 while in others some of the premolars or 

 even of the incisors drop out as life advances. 



