368 VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 



less specialized than in other groups and in several other ways they 

 appear to resemble the ancestral carnivores. They have been as- 

 sociated with Man from a very early period, and are as cosmopolitan 

 in their distribution as Man is, because wherever Man goes he takes 

 his dogs. 



Family 5. Procyonidce (Raccoons). — This is an American family o; 

 carnivores that in some ways is intermediate between the dogs and 

 the bears. They have plantigrade feet and grinding teeth like the 

 bears, but in other respects are more like the dogs. The common 

 raccoon (Procyon) is a familiar type (Fig. 185, E) around streams and 

 lakes, where it catches crayfish, clams, and sometimes fish, without, 

 however, going very far into the water. 



Family 6. Mustelidce.— This is a large family of bloodthirsty, 

 predaceous creatures, including: weasels, pole-cats, badgers (Fig. 

 189, F), martens, wolverines, sables, minks, ermines, ferrets, stoats, 

 skunks, otters (Fig. 189, G), and other less known types. For the 

 most part they give off a nauseous musky odor, which is most marked 

 in the skunks. They are among the most important of our fur-bearing 

 animals. Representatives of the family are native to all the con- 

 tinental bodies except Australia and Madagascar. 



Family 7. Ursidce (Bears). — The bears (Fig. 189, H) are the largest 

 of modern carnivores and are characterized most sharply by their 

 plantigrade walk and the short tail. Most bears belong to the genus 

 Ursus, but several other genera are distinguished, such as Melurus, 

 the sloth bear of India, and Mluro-pus, a rare species native to Thibet. 

 The bears are native to the Northern Hemisphere, few of them 

 having crossed the equator. 



Sub-Order 2. Pinnipedia (Seals and Walruses). — The animals of 

 this sub-order are marine forms, in which there has been a secondary 

 adaptation of the whole body for aquatic life. They are, however, 

 much less radically modified than the Sirenia or the Cetacea. The 

 Pinnipedia are characterized as follows: the greater part of the limbs 

 are inclosed within the body skin; the claws are reduced and the 

 digits are increased in number; the milk dentition is feeble and is 

 shed early; the cranial cavity is large as compared with the face. 



Family 1. Otariidce (Sea-lions and Fur-seals). — These animals are 

 gregarious and polygamous. The males (Fig. 190, B) are several 

 times as large as the females (Fig. 190, C). As a rule they breed on 

 rocky northern islands; and great numbers have in the past been 



