Fossil Carnivora. 241 
have overlooked the advantage of securing the help of so valu- 
able an animal. That the men of the palxolithic and neolithic 
periods were not without a canine companion can scarcely be 
doubted, though the direct evidence of this is scanty. 
From the above it will be seen that the true carnivora are 
comparatively recent (7.e., so far as we know, not older than 
the Eocene), though they may have appeared in that period 
represented by the geological hiatus, between the Secondary 
and Tertiary formations. Since their appearance they have 
increased in families and genera, and now may probably be 
considered at their maximum of specialisation, The influence 
of man, however, is assuredly destined to extinguish all except 
a few forms useful to him, and one of the survivals under 
domestication is certain to be the genus canis. 
