26 THE CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS 



hand, the tiger is much larger and stronger, its body is 

 differently marked, and the fur is more compact and glossy. 

 It is evident that these two animals are of a different kind, 

 or species, yet are very closely connected. In fact, they are 

 so cl(_)sely related that they are placed in one and the same 

 group known as a (jenus. v\gain, the lion and the leopard 

 are two distinct species of animals, but so closely related 

 to each other and to the tiger and domestic cat that they 

 are included in the same genus. A genus usually in- 

 cludes several closely related species, but it may consist 

 of one species only. 



How animals are named. — The scientific name of each 

 animal consists of two words taken from the Latin or Greek 

 languages, usually the former. The first word of the name 

 is the name of the genus to which the animal belongs. 

 The second word is the name of the species to which the 

 animal belongs. For example, the scientific name of the 

 domestic cat is Felis (Jome.-itica, in which Felts indicates the 

 genus and dmneslicii the species to which the cat belongs. 

 In like manner the lion is known as Felis leo, the tiger as 

 Feli.^ tifiris, and the leopard as Felis parchis. This method 

 of naming animals tends to insure miifnrmity, Isecause every 

 zoologist, no matter of what nationalit>', in writing of a 

 particular animal, uses the same name, thereb^y avoiding 

 confusion ami, at the same time, indicatmg the precise 

 animal \m(k'i' discussion. 



Family. — If a wild cat and Canada lynx were compared 

 with a tiger and a house cat. we should find that they pos- 

 sessed similar eyes, walked in a similar manner, and had 

 similar moutlis with whiskers on the upper lips. It is 

 evident that the>' are all catlike animals. On the other 

 hand, we sliould find that the lymx: and wild cat differed 



