Carnivora

(kar-niv'o-rah.) [From L. caro, car nis, flesh, and voro, to eat. ] (Zool.) The fifth O. of quadrupeds, comprising all the mammal i a which feed wholly or mainly upon flesh, and, with few exceptions, capture the animals upon which they prey. They are distinguished from all other animals not only by their general appearance, but especially by their sharp teeth and claws, Fig. 139. and by their internal di-SKULL OF THE LION. gestive apparatus. They have 6 incisors in each jaw, a long, stout canine in each side of both jaws just behind the incisors, and a variable number of molars, which are wholly trenchant, or in part with tuberculous crowns (Fig. 139). Thus the molars of C. are not properly grinding teeth, but they cut the prey like a pair of shears. These animals are so much the more exclusively carnivorous as their teeth are more completely trenchant; and the relative proportions of their vegetable or animal food may be calculated from the extent of the tuberculous surfaces of the teeth as compared with the portion which is trenchant. The clavicles of C. are imperfect or wholly wanting; the stomach is simple, and intestine short. They are divided into the families Felidæ, Hyenadæ, Canide, Viver ride, Mustelidæ, Ursidæ, and Phocide. [s. 147]