CYNOIDEA. 719 



weapons ; the cusped cheek teeth and rasping tongue are 

 employed to separate the flesh from the bones of the prey. 



Examples. — The lion (Felts leo), in Africa, Mesopotamia, Persia, 

 N.-W. India; the tiger (F. tigris), widely distributed 

 in Asia ; the leopard (F. fiardus) in Africa, India, Ceylon, 

 Sumatra, Borneo, etc. ; the wild cat (F. catus) ; the 

 Caffre cat (F. caffra) of Africa and S. Asia, venerated and 

 mummified by the Egyptians, perhaps ancestral to the 

 domestic cat ; the puma or couguar (F. concolor) from 

 Canada to Patagonia ; the jaguar (F. oncd), also American. 



A high degree of specialisation for carnivorous habit is well 

 illustrated by the sabre-toothed tigers (Machcerodus) of Tertiary 

 ages, whose serrated upper canines were sometimes 7 in. 



long- 

 Family Viverridse — Old World forms, such as civets ( Viverra), of 

 Africa and India; genets (Genetta), of S. Europe, Africa, and 

 S.-W. Asia; ichneumons or mongooses (Herpestes), in Spain, 

 Africa, India, Indo-Malaya. They differ from the true cats 



in having more cheek teeth — premolars - or -, molars 



- or — and in some other respects. The Foussa (Ciyipto- 



procta ferox) is peculiar to Madagascar, and forms the only 

 type of a sub-family. 



Family Proteleidae — represented by Proteles cristatus, the hyeena-like 

 aard-wolf of Cape Colony. The cheek teeth are small and 

 degenerate, the animal is burrowing and nocturnal, and lives 

 on carrion and termites. Though best known in S. Africa, 

 it seems probable that it is widely distributed throughout the 

 continent. 



Family Hyfenidse — represented by the genus Hyana, found in Africa 

 and S. Asia. The tympanic bulla is not divided by a septum. 

 The teeth are well developed, and resemble those of cats. 



(2) Cynoidea — Dog-like Carnivores. 



Family Canidse — including forms intermediate between the cats and 

 the bears. The dentition is more generalised than in the 



Felidse, its usual formula is 3 -^-. Within the tympanic bulla 



there is only a rudimentary septum. The paroccipital process 



in contact with the bulla is prominent. The CEecum is either 



short and simple or long and peculiarly folded upon itself. 



Examples. — The genus Cams has representatives in all parts 



of the world, — the wolves (C. lupus, etc.), the jackals 



(C. aureus, mesomelas, etc.), the domestic dogs (C. 



familiaris)i the foxes (C. vulpes, etc.), the Cape hunting 



dog (Lycaori), the bush-dog (Icticyon) of Guiana and Brazil, 



and the primitive Otocyon megalotis from S. Africa, with a 



dental formula of 3 ' '' 4 ' 3 " 4 . The presence of a fourth molar 



3» j j 4j 4 



in this case in both jaws is an exceedingly remarkable 



