276 MAMMALIAN DENTITION 



of dentition is seen in the Cacomistle, a more progressive form 

 in the Coati (Fig. 64) and the fnlly developed condition in the 

 Raccoon. Some details regarding the dental features of these 

 animals have already been given in the chapter upon the Car- 

 nivora (page 182). The formula for each is: 



if, Cy,p4,m|. total 40. 



From this formula the dentition of the Kinkajou and the 

 Panda are also derived but the former has lost the first pre- 

 molar in each jaw and the latter has lost its maxillary first pre- 

 molar and sheds the corresponding mandibular tooth in early 

 life. The diet of these animals is increasingly omnivorous in 

 the order Cacomistle, Coati, Raccoon. The diet of the Kinka- 

 jou includes flesh but consists largely of eggs and fruit and the 

 teeth of this animal though clearly derived from a Cacomistle- 

 like form are quite retrogressive ; the carnassial teeth, well 

 marked in the Cacomistle, are no longer specialized. The diet 

 of the Panda is composed of fruits, eggs, acorns, roots and the 

 young shoots of bamboos. The animal will not touch flesh. 

 The photograph of the Panda should be examined with the 

 greatest care for the student can easily identify therein the 

 various cusps and styles and can observe the transformation 

 of an insectivorous-carnivorous type of dentition into a purely 

 herbivorous brachyodont type tending toward the selenodont 

 form. The initial formation of the crescents, concave laterally 

 in the maxilla and convex laterally in the mandible can be 

 studied exceedingly well. 



The foregoing are among the most instructive examples of 

 tooth variation to be found in modern Mammals. In the photo- 

 graphs it will be seen that considering the marked differences 

 in the teeth the condyles and glenoid fossae are remarkably sim- 

 ilar. It would seem as though changes in the form of teeth long 

 antedate structural modifications of masticatory significance 

 in the jaws. However this may be it directs our attention to 



