35 2 
CARNIVORES. 
trial Carnivores the largest species are to be found in the warmer parts of the 
globe, although the bears form, to a certain extent, an exception to this rule. The 
more typical and purely carnivorous terrestrial members of the order, which, as a 
general rule, subsist on the flesh of animals killed by themselves, are characterised 
by the elegance and neatness of their build, and their bodily strength and activity, 
as well as by the fierceness of their disposition. 
The terrestrial, or, as they are often called, in allusion to their free toes, the 
Fissipede Carnivores, are, as a rule, adapted for a life on land, although some forms, 
like the otters, pass a large portion of their time in the water. In no instance, 
however, are their fore-limbs modified so as to assume the form of flippers, neither 
do their hind-limbs ever present the peculiar structure characteristic of those of 
the seals, being, on the contrary, invariably suited for walking with ease on the 
ground. Of more importance, however, is the structure of the teeth of the land 
Carnivores. In the 
first place, the pre¬ 
sence of three 
pairs of incisor 
teeth in both the 
upper and the lower 
jaw is an extremely 
constant feature. 
Then, again, in¬ 
stead of the uni¬ 
formity pervading 
the whole series of 
cheek-teeth, which 
we shall find to be 
characteristic of 
the seals and their 
allies, the cheek¬ 
teeth of the terres¬ 
trial Carnivores of 
the present epoch are distinguished by having one of their number on each 
side of both the upper and the lower jaw modified in a special manner so as 
to bite against one another in a more or less markedly scissor-like fashion. The 
tooth in the upper jaw thus specially modified is the last of those which have 
milk, or deciduous predecessors, and is thus the fourth of the premolar series in 
those species where four of those teeth are developed. This is shown in the 
accompanying figure of the skull of the fox, where the fourth upper tooth ( pmA ) 
behind the tusk is the one specially modified. In the lower jaw, however, 
in those forms which have the full number of teeth, it is the fifth tooth (m.l) 
behind the tusk which bites against the specially modified tooth in the upper jaw, 
as shown in the same figure. This modified lower tooth, which has no deciduous 
milk predecessor, is thus the first of the molar series. To these two pairs of modified 
teeth is applied the name of flesh-teeth, as being those specially adapted for cutting 
the flesh of the victims of the terrestrial Carnivores. The upper flesh-tooth, as 
SIDE VIEW OF THE SKOLL OF THE COMMON FOX. 
To show the nature of the teeth of a Carnivore. The upper flesh-tooth is lettered 
pm, A, and the lower flesh-tooth m.l. (From Proc. Zool. Soc.— After Huxley.) 
