BEARS AND THEIR ALLIES. 615 
peing connected ; the wrist and foot only projecting beyond 
the skin of the body, and there are no external ears, or only 
small ones. 
The walrus (Fig. 534), the seals, and the eared seals or 
sea-lions (Otariide) 
are the types of the 
aquatic Carnivores ; 
the sea-lions can walk 
on all fours, and in 
certain peculiarities of 
the skull they resem- 
ble the bears. 
Of the terrestrial, 
normal Carnivora, the 
raccocn, coati, Cerco- 
Jeptes, and bear, to- 
gether with a number 
of extinct forms, are 
the more generalized 
or lower types. They 
are plantigrade, and 
while standing at the 
base of the carnivorous 
series, have some fea- 
tures suggesting and 
anticipating those of 
the lemurs, and mon- 
keys. The raccoon, 
Procyon lotor (Linn.), 
abounds throughout 
the United States. Al- 
lied to it is the coati 
(Nasua) of Central 
America, a creature 
about the size of, and 
with the general hab- 
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its of the raccoon, being an exceedingly knowing and mis- 
chievous animal. A number of extinct Eocene mammals 
are also allied to a small plantigrade, long-tailed carnivore, 
Cercoleptes, which resembles the Primates in its two cutting 
