20 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



illustrate the evolution of these animals from the primitive 

 civet-like Carnivora of the Eocene epoch. The Miocene stage, 

 Leptarctus, is very little known ; only a lower jaw and an upper 

 tooth have been found. Of the Oligocene stage, Phlaocyon, a 

 nearly complete skeleton was found in 1898, of which the skull, 

 jaws, limbs and feet are on exhibition. This unique specimen is 

 one of the best preserved fossil Carnivores in the collection. It 

 is intermediate between the civet-like ancestors of the dogs 

 {DaphcBnus and Cynodictis) and the modem raccoons. The 



FIG. 14. UNDER SIDE OF SKULL OF PHLAOCYON 

 A link between raccoons .ind primitive dogs. Lower Miocene of Colorado. Natural size 



shape of the skull is raccoon-like, but the number of teeth is the 

 same as in the dogs, while their form is intermediate between 

 the two types. The limbs and feet are also intermediate. It 

 is probable, therefore, that the Dogs and Raccoons are derived 

 from a common ancestral stock. Specimens found in Europe in- 

 dicate that the Bears are likewise derived from this common 

 stock, and that the three families have diverged, the Dogs becom- 

 ing terrestrial flesh-eaters, living largely in open country, the 

 Bears omnivorous and living in the woods, the Raccoons omniv- 

 orous and arboreal. 



