48 
LOWER MAMMAL GALLERY. 
[Cases 
26 , 26 , 
& 27 .] 
the teeth are enormously broad and powerful, with rounded 
tubercular cusps well adapted for breaking the hard shells of crabs 
and molluscs, on which it is supposed to feed. Alone among 
the Carnivora Fissipedia, the Sea-Otter has only two lower 
incisors. 
The Bears (^Ursula;) ^ cases 25 and 2(>, which form the last 
family of Land-Carnivora, are characterized by their large size, 
thick and clumsy build, rudimentary tails, plantigrade, five-toed 
feet, long, blunt, and nearly straight claws, small ears, and, 
usually, long shaggy fur. In their skeletons, as in external 
appearance, they are heavy and clumsily built, and their bones 
are thick and massive. Their sectorial teeth have broad 
surfaces, and are little adapted for cutting, the whole dentition 
being that of animals living as much on vegetable as on animal 
food. They are wholly plantigrade, with non-rectractile claws. 
For the most part, the species are much alike, there being few 
differences between them other than those of size and the 
proportions of the skulls and teeth. Their distribution includes 
Europe, Asia, and North America, but they are entirely absent 
from Australia, most of Africa, and the greater part of South 
America. The most noteworthy members of the group are : — 
The Brown Bear, Ursus arctus ( 614 ), case 27, of Europe and 
North Asia, which was formerly found in England, having been 
exterminated only within historic times. The nearly allied 
Kashmir Snow-Bear, U. a. isabellinus ( 617 ). A dwarfed, long- 
haired Bear from the highlands of Tibet known as U. pruinosus 
( 615 ). The Polar Bear, U. maritimus ( 626 ), the largest of the 
family, an excellent swimmer, and wholly carnivorous, living on 
seals (which it captures by stalking) and the carcases of large 
animals. The Grizzly Bear, 77. Jiorribilis, and the closely 
related Alaskan Grizzly, U. h. daUi ( 616 ), of which a re- 
markably fine example is mounted in case 25, are the most 
formidable beasts of prey of North America. The Spectacled 
Bear, U. ornatits ( 622 ), an interesting species, found isolated 
from the others in the Andes of Peru and Ecuador ; no repre- 
sentative of this family occurring in Central America. The 
Himalayan Black Bear, 77. torquatus ( 625 ), and the small 
Malay Bear, 77. malcujanus ( 623 ), are also exhibited. More 
