98 
CARNIVORA. 
erful. A reference to the delineation of the teeth of 
the dog tribe will show the comparative difference. 
The head of the hyaena is conical, and not so round 
as that of the cats ; the forehead is slightly promi- 
nent, the muzzle rather slender, but the jaws, al- 
though considerably shorter than those of the dogs 
in general, are more elongated, and, consequently, 
not so powerful as those of the cats. Indeed, the 
similarity of the jaws of the hyaena with those of 
the dog seems probably to have induced Linnmus to 
class them together. 
The hyaena has a very rough and hard tongue, 
which is covered, on the upper surface, with horny 
papillae, as in the cats ; but they are not so long and 
acute. The tongue of the dog is smooth and soft. 
In the hyaena the eyes are large, and the pupils 
longitudinal, angular above, and rounded below ; 
and although they agree in this respect with that 
subdivision of the caninae which includes the foxes, 
yet the pupil is much more narrow than in these 
animals. 
All the feet of the hyaena have four toes only*; 
the dogs have five on the fore feet, and four on those 
behind ; the claws of which are very strong, but not 
retractile. The hind legs are shorter than those 
before, which gives them a peculiar appearance; this 
disproportion, however, though it prevails throughout 
diet, because the corresponding lobes of the opposite tooth, against 
which they strike, are cutting, and not molar. 
* Linnaeus (Syst. Nat. ed. 12, p. 58.) has noticed this, after the 
observation of Brander. 
