The Cambridge Natural History Part 33

{412}

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FIG. 204.--Spotted Hyaena. _Crocuta maculata._ 1/12.

The genera _Hyaena_ and _Crocuta_, the Striped and Spotted Hyaena respectively, are African and Asiatic in range, _Crocuta_ being limited to South Africa. There is neither hallux nor pollex.

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FIG. 205.--Striped Hyaena. _Hyaena striata._ 1/12.

The Hyaenas, stigmatised by Sir Samuel Baker as "low-caste creatures," are mainly carrion feeders. Much Arab superst.i.tion is a.s.sociated with them.

Certain peculiarities in the structure {413} of the organs of reproduction have led to the belief that a Hyaena changes its s.e.x every year. Its almost human-sounding howls are supposed to be a deliberate trap for the unwary traveller. There is also a legend that in the eye of the Hyaena is a stone which if placed under the tongue of a man endows him with the gift of prophecy.

_Proteles_ presents many resemblances to the Hyaenas, but also certain differences; by many it is placed in a separate family. There is but one species, _P. cristata_, the Aard Wolf of South Africa. In outward aspect it is very Hyaena-like, the coat being striped, and the ears, though longer, resembling those of a Hyaena. There is also a mane. There are, however, five toes on the fore-feet. The teeth are feebler, particularly the molars, which are also reduced in number. The skull, as in _Hyaena_, has no alisphenoid ca.n.a.l, but the bulla tympani is divided by a septum. The animal seems to feed largely upon insects, particularly Termites, and also upon carrion.[285]

Of extinct Hyaenoids _Ict.i.therium_ seems to be transitional between them and the Viverridae. Its dent.i.tion, 3/3, 1/1, 4/3, 2/1, is that of a Viverrid, and the feet are five-toed. The upper carna.s.sial tooth, however, is like that of _Hyaena_ in having a strong inner cusp. Other extinct genera of Hyaenas are _Lycyaena_ and _Hyaenictis_. The genus _Hyaena_ itself goes back as far as to the Miocene, and occurred in Europe until the Pleistocene. The Cave Hyaena of this country seems to be indistinguishable from _Crocuta maculata_, though it has received the name of _H. spelaea_.

FAM. 5. CANIDAE.[286]--This family cannot be divided into more than five genera, and is universally distributed with the exception of New Zealand.

The auditory bulla is smooth and rounded, and has internally a very incomplete septum, extending through about one-fourth or one-third of the cavity. The meatus has a fairly prominent under lip. The paroccipital process is long and prominent. The mastoid is distinct, though but slightly developed. The glenoid foramen is large; the condyloid foramen is conspicuous, and the carotid ca.n.a.l is deep within the foramen lacerum posterius. The last three characters are Bear-like; the {414} form of the bulla is Aeluroid. The teeth vary somewhat in number, and the following table will serve to indicate the gradual reduction observable in the number of molars:--

_Otocyon_ I 3/3 C 1/1 Pm 4/4 M (3 or 4)/4 _Canis_ generally I 3/3 C 1/1 Pm 4/4 M (3 or 2)/(4 or 3) _Cyon_ I 3/3 C 1/1 Pm 4/4 M 2/2 _Icticyon_ I 3/3 C 1/1 Pm 4/4 M (2 or 1)/2

All the Dogs have a caec.u.m[287] of simple cylindrical form. In _C.

cancrivorus_, _C. jubatus_, and _Nyctereutes procyonides_ this organ is straight or only very faintly curved; in other Dogs it is coiled into an [288]-like form, sometimes with an additional twist. The Dogs have, as a rule, five toes, one being dropped in _Lycaon_. The tail is fairly long and distinctly bushy. There is in a number of species a gland at the root of the tail, the presence of which can frequently be detected by the wet appearance due to the oozing secretion. The great majority of existing Canidae belong to the genus _Canis_. But certainly three, and more doubtfully four, other genera can be distinguished.

The genus _Icticyon_ contains but one recent species, the Bush Dog (_I.

venaticus_, Lund) of British Guiana. The animal has a somewhat Paradoxure-like, at any rate a distinctly un-dog-like, aspect, being longish in the body (some 2 feet long), shortish in the legs, and big-headed. It is blackish in colour, verging towards golden brown on the head and back. Sir W. Flower, to whom we owe our chief knowledge of its structure, characterises it as like a young Fox, and with the playful manners of a puppy. The animal appears to hunt in packs and by scent, and has a reputation for ferocity. _Icticyon_ differs from _Canis_ and agrees with the Indian _Cuon_ in having but forty teeth, the last molar having disappeared from the upper and lower jaws. The caec.u.m, unlike that of the majority of Canidae, is only slightly curved. The brain, oddly enough, shows a Cat-like peculiarity. It has been pointed out that in their long bodies and short legs the genera _Cuon_ and _Icticyon_ resemble the primitive dogs.[289]

A genus _Nyctereutes_ is usually separated from _Canis_ for the inclusion of _N. procyonides_ only. The separation is based upon {415} the strikingly unusual coloration of this Dog. It is a small animal, with numerous long white hairs dorsally. The face, chest, and much of the belly are black. Its aspect distinctly recalls that of a Racc.o.o.n,[290] especially in the black patches below the eyes, whence of course the scientific name and the pseudo-vernacular "Racc.o.o.n-like Dog." It inhabits China and j.a.pan. As to structure, there is hardly anything that justifies its exclusion from the genus _Canis_. Garrod, however, mentions the unusually large size of the Spigelian lobe of the liver.

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FIG. 206.--Racc.o.o.n-like Dog. _Nyctereutes procyonides._ 1/6.

Wortman and Malkens[291] have inst.i.tuted a genus _Nothocyon_ for Dr.

Mivart's species _C. urostictus_[292] and _C. parvidens_, which are both South American forms.

The genus _Otocyon_ contains but one species, _O. megalotis_, an African species, ranging pretty widely in that continent (from the Cape to Somaliland, in sandy districts), and sometimes confused with the Fennec on account of its long ears. Its princ.i.p.al structural difference from other Dogs is that there is an additional molar in each jaw, the molar formula being thus M 3/4 or even 4/4. Moreover the carna.s.sial teeth are not so p.r.o.nounced, and Professor Huxley laid especial stress upon the {416} likeness of some of the cheek teeth to those of the more primitive Arctoids. The angle of the lower jaw is inflected, a character, however, which seems to be more general than is usually allowed among animals not referable to the Marsupials. It is possible that _Otocyon_ is a persistent Creodont-like form which has developed in a direction curiously, and in a most detailed fashion, parallel to the Dogs. If, however, we may a.s.sume the addition of the molar, then this anomalous but not necessarily untenable conclusion is obviated.

The genus _Cuon_, or _Cyon_, has been inst.i.tuted for the two or three species of Eastern Dogs (_C. primaevus_, _C. dukkunensis_, etc.) which agree with each other in the constant loss of a molar in the lower jaw, or, it should be said, almost constant loss, for the missing tooth is occasionally represented. The latter of the two species mentioned, the Dhole, is, like its congeners, an animal which hunts in packs; it is said to hunt even the ferocious Tiger, and to be thus one of the few animals which can face the largest and fiercest of the Carnivora.

The genus _Lycaon_ is a very distinct type, being differentiated from other Dogs by the possession of only four toes on both fore- and hind-limbs, and by the dental formula, which is Pm 4/4 M 2/3. The one species is _L.

pictus_, the Cape Hunting Dog. It is singularly like a Hyaena[293] in general appearance; the ochraceous grey ground-colour with black markings and the long ears produce this likeness. The animal has got its vernacular name from the habit of hunting in packs. Its range is over a good part of Africa. The occurrence of this species (or at least genus, for the name _L.

anglicus_ has been used) in caves in Glamorganshire seems to show that it is a comparatively recent immigrant into Africa. As to its visceral structures, _Lycaon_[294] does not differ widely from other Dogs. It has, however, no lytta beneath the tongue. The intestines are thus divided: large, 9 feet 1 inch; small, 1 foot 3 inches. This contrasts with the proportions observable in some other Dogs. While other Dogs have but a cartilaginous rudiment of the clavicle, _Lycaon_ has a considerably larger representative of this bone.

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FIG. 207.--Fennec Fox. _Canis zerda._ 1/5.

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FIG. 208.--Prairie Wolf or Coyote. _Canis latrans._ 1/8.

The bulk of the Dogs, Wolves, Foxes, and Jackals are thus left over for inclusion in the genus _Canis_. But the numerous {417} members of this genus can, according to Professor Huxley, be sorted into two series by certain cranial characters. The two series he termed the "Alopecoid" or Fox-like, and the "Thooid" or Wolf-like. It was suggested that the generic name _Vulpes_ be used for the former, and _Canis_ for the second. The characters which will be dealt with immediately are also to be noted among {418} the Dogs belonging to genera that have already been separated off.

Thus _Lycaon_ is distinctly Thooid. The characters in question are these:--In the Fox series, the frontal air-sinus of the Thooids is absent; the cranial cavity is pear-shaped, without an abrupt angle coinciding with the supra-orbital sulcus, such as exists in the other group; the coronoid process of the mandible is rather higher and more turned back in the Foxes, while the depth of the mandible at the level of the first molar is greater.

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FIG. 209.--j.a.panese Wolf. _Canis hodophylax._ 1/8 (From _Nature_.)

To the Fox series belong among others the species _C. lagopus_ (Arctic Fox), _C. zerda_ (the Fennec), _C. chama_ (the Silver-backed Fox of Africa), _C. virginia.n.u.s_ (the Virginian Fox), _C. velox_ (the Kit Fox), and of course the Common Fox of this country. On the other hand, the Dogs proper (such as _C. dingo_), the Wolves (_C. lupus_, _C. pallipes_, _C.

niger_), the j.a.panese Wolf (_C. hodophylax_), the Red Wolf of America (_C.

jubatus_), the Jackals (_C. aureus_, _C. anthus_, etc.), the Prairie Wolf (_C. latrans_), and a number of American forms, such as _C. azarae_, its close ally _C. cancrivorus_ ( = _C. rudis_), _C. antarcticus_, _C.

magellanicus_, etc., are decidedly Wolves rather than Foxes. {419}

The Arctic Fox, _Canis lagopus_, is known by its bluish summer and pure white winter dress as "Blue Fox" and "White Fox" respectively. It is an inhabitant of the Arctic north; but in former days, as its remains show, it descended to such southern lat.i.tudes as Germany and this country. The most southern point which it now inhabits is Iceland. This small Fox is well known as being one of the few animals which change their dress to a complete white in winter. This change is, however, not absolutely universal; and M. Trouessart has even stated that the supposed change does not exist, but that the colours are a question of age and s.e.x. This Fox feeds on birds and cast-up carcases of Whales and Seals; it is also said to devour sh.e.l.l-fish, and actually to store up food when abundant for seasons of scarcity. A Fox has been observed to "carry off eggs in his mouth from an eider duck's nest, one at a time, until the whole were removed"; and in winter to "scratch a hole down through very deep snow to a _cache_ of eggs beneath." These anecdotes are told by Sir Leopold McClintock; but others have also a.s.serted the storing habits of this Fox, which really has only a short time of the year in which it can catch suitable living food.

_Canis vulpes_, the Fox, is not only a native of England, but extends as far to the east as Egypt, the so-called _C. aegyptiacus_ being at most a mere variety. Varieties indeed occur in these islands; the English Fox being redder, the Scotch greyer. Not only is the Fox a truly indigenous English beast, but its remains go back a very long way into past time. Its bones occur in the Red Crag, a deposit of Pliocene times. Its prevalence now is no doubt due to its preservation as a beast of chase. It lives in burrows, either excavating them itself or taking possession of those of some other animal; the Badger suffers in this way, and is said to be vanquished not by the teeth of the burglarious Fox, but by its far fouler habits! It is curious that the expression "foxing" is not so suitable to this animal as to many others. The habit of "shamming death" is a widely-spread one in the animal world, but at least not common with our Fox. The sagacity of the Fox appears to be a little more proverbial than actual; literature teems with its accomplishments. The worthy Archbishop of Upsala, Olaus Magnus, figured Foxes dipping their tails in the streams, and then pulling out inquisitive crayfishes {420} which had seized upon them.

"It is a crafty, lively, and libidinous creature," observed a writer of the last century.

Of Jackals there are many species, both African and Oriental. Mr. de Winton allows the following list of African species[295]:--_C. anthus_, _C.

variegatus_, _C. mesomelas_, _C. lateralis_. _C. mesomelas_ is distinguished by the broad black patch in the middle of the back. These animals do not appear to go in packs as so many Canidae do; they live upon carrion, but also rob hen-roosts, and commit other depredations upon the live stock of farmers. The "Quaha," _C. lateralis_, is distinguished from the last by its sharp bark, and by the obvious side stripe which has given to it its name. It is curious that it should live in apparent amity with _C. mesomelas_, since the habits of the two are identical and would lead, one might suppose, to a severe struggle for existence, in which one of the two would disappear. Of Indian Jackals _C. aureus_ is the most familiar type.

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FIG. 210.--Wolf. _Canis lupus._ 1/8.

The European Wolf, _Canis lupus_, was once, but is no longer, an inhabitant of the British Islands. Their former prevalence is indicated by many names of towns and villages, such as Ulceby and Usselby in Lincolnshire, the town of Wolverton, and Woolmer Forest. In Saxon times Wolves were very abundant; and even so recently as the reign of Elizabeth they were to be seen on {421} Dartmoor and in the Forest of Dean. In the New Forest they were hunted in the twelfth century. It would seem that the last English Wolf was slain some time during the reign of Henry VII. In Scotland, however, they persisted very much longer. So recently as 1743 was the last killed. But before this period they had begun to get exceedingly scarce, for the price of a skin in 1620 is quoted at 6:13:4. In Ireland Wolves lingered yet longer; about 1770 is believed to be the date of their final extinction in that island. The Wolf nowadays is distributed over the greater part of Europe, Northern Asia, and North America, the American form not being considered to be distinct from its European ally. Much legend has collected round this fierce Carnivore. Aristotle, usually accurate in the main, still "states more of wolves than experience warranted." Pliny, unable to sift truth from falsehood, was in this matter "an eager listener to all old women's tales." Aelian added to his marvels and a.s.serted that the Wolf cannot bend its head back; if it should happen to tread on the flower of the squill it at once becomes torpid. So the wily fox, fearing his more powerful enemy, takes care to strew his path with squills! The conversion of men into Wolves was a well-known superst.i.tion, dating from Grecian and Roman times; it formed the basis of much of the witchcraft persecutions of the Middle Ages and onwards, and has left its mark in folklore, _e.g._ the Wolf in "Red Riding Hood."

The Indian Wolves, _C. pallipes_, _C. chanco_, and _C. laniger_, are hardly, if at all, different from _C. lupus_. Professor Huxley has remarked upon the likeness of _C. pallipes_ to a Jackal, thus bridging over the very inconsiderable gap that may be held to divide Jackals and Wolves.

The Dingo, _Canis dingo_, is an interesting and somewhat mysterious species of Dog or Wolf. As is well known, it is an Australian species; but it does not seem to be certain whether it was tamed and brought over to Australia by the native races, or is a true and indigenous Australian species.

The colour of this species varies, but is usually of a reddish brown; it is, however, often grey and indeed almost black. Whether indigenous or introduced, the Dingo is a plague to Australian settlers, devouring Sheep, which it generally destroys by tearing out the paunch. It does not as a rule hunt in packs. The Dingo is stated to feign death with so much persistence that {422} an individual has been known to be partly flayed before moving. Dingo remains have been found in river-gravels in Australia where no human remains have been detected. This argues for its indigeneity; but, on the other hand, it has been pointed out that man himself in the Australian continent goes back a very long way into time, and may thus still have imported this companion with him. Anyhow it is quite a wild creature now. Dr. Nehring, an expert investigator into the subject of domestic animals, has stated that the skeleton of the Dingo does not suggest a feral animal at all but a purely wild race.

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FIG. 211.--Dingo. _Canis dingo._ 1/8.

The Domestic Dog is usually spoken of as _Canis familiaris_; but to remains in bone caverns the name of _C. ferus_ or _C. mikii_ has been given. There seems to be no doubt that the Dog was the "friend of man" in very early times. Its remains have been met with in Danish kitchen-middens, in the lake-dwellings of the Swiss lakes, and during the Bronze Age in Europe generally. But "there are few more vexed questions in the archaeology of natural history than the origin of the dog." Its remains already referred to may in many cases have argued its use as food. But in a Neolithic barrow a Dog was found buried with a woman, the {423} skeletons of both being _in situ_; this animal was about the size of a Shepherd Dog. The actual Dog of to-day is divisible into more than 180 different breeds; but in a work upon "Natural History" it would seem out of place to enumerate and characterise these artificial products. Authors vary in their opinion as to what stock gave rise to the domestic races of the past and of to-day. The Jackal, the Bunasu (_C. primaevus_), the Indian Wolf (_C. pallipes_), have been proposed as likely ancestors. It is more probable that there is much admixture, and that various wild types have been selected by man in various countries.

EXTINCT CANIDAE.--Many of the existing species of Canidae are also to be found in Pleistocene deposits of the countries which they now inhabit. A few show a wider range in the immediate past than in the present. Thus _Lycaon_ (_L. anglicus_) has been met with in caves in Glamorganshire, while _Icticyon_ of South America appears to be congeneric with _Speothos_ of the Brazilian caves. The African _Otocyon_ seems to occur in deposits in India. There are also numerous extinct species belonging to the genus _Canis_, which extend as far back as the Pliocene.

The earlier types of Dogs have been placed in different genera.

_Cynodictis_ is an Eocene form from European strata. The skull is decidedly Civet-like, with a short snout. The fore- and hind-feet were five-toed, with well-developed pollex and hallux. The dent.i.tion was that of modern Dogs, the molars being two in the upper and three in the lower jaw. The general aspect of the creature and the form of the skeleton was much like that of the Viverrine genus _Paradoxurus_, of which, as well as of the Dogs, _Cynodictis_ might have been an ancestor.

_Simocyon_ of the Upper Miocene serves as the type of a separate sub-family of Dogs, Simocyoninae. The skull is short, broad, and high; the shortening of the skull affecting the jaws has reduced the teeth greatly; the first three premolars are very small, fall out soon, and are thus often deficient. There are only two molars in each jaw. This type is of course nowhere near the ancestral Dog. It is a much-specialised branch of an early type. _Cephalogale_ is less specialised; there are the usual four premolars. _Enhydrocyon_ is an intermediate form; it has lost one premolar in each jaw.