A. Carnivora is a highly diverse order; 11 families and 271 species

B. Most are meat-eaters, hence the name

1. They are the largest group of meat-eating mammals

C. Live on all continents except Australia

1. Also have marine members

D. Evolution of the group (see fig. 15.1, p. 257)

1. Notice the deep split between (suborders) Feliformia and Caniformia (ignore the extinct Creodonts)

2. Notice a deep split in Caniformia, forming two major clades

a. Note how this splits up the aquatic members

i. The Odobenidae (walrus), Otariidae (eared seals), and Ursidae (bears) in one clade

ii. The Phocidae (earless seals) in the other group; this group also includes the Mustelidae, Procyonidae, and Canidae

3. The Feliformia includes the Herpestidae (mongooses), Viverridae (civets), Hyaenidae (hyenas), and Felidae (cats)

4. There is a rather confusing discussion on p. 257 about the pinnipeds; this was the former order containing 3 aquatic carnivores

a. Obviously this was incorrect; this was a polyphyletic grouping

b. Latest evidence shows the correct arrangement as presented in the book

E. Reproduction

1. Smaller carnivores tend to have larger litters and breed more frequently than larger carnivores

2. Young tend to be altricial

a. Extended periods are needed to teach young how to hunt

b. High brain-to-body mass ratio of carnivores may be an adaptation for hunting

F. Hunting: may be solitary, paired, or found in larger groups

1. Smaller carnivores tend to hunt singly

2. Larger carnivores often hunt in social groups (i.e., packs)

3. A variety of forms of hunting

a. Stealth and ambush, seen in many felids

b. Stalk followed by short, swift run (weasels)

c. Prolonged chase (wolves or hyenas)

II. Morphology

A. Defining characteristic is the carnassial tooth

1. This is the specialization of the fourth upper premolar and first lower molar

a. They function as shearing or cutting teeth

2. They are well developed in the more predaceous families such as felids, hyaenids, and canids

a. Much reduced in more omnivorous families such as ursids and procyonids

B. Skulls are heavy and have strong facial musculature

1. This assists in crushing, cutting, and chewing flesh, ligaments, and bone

C. The mandibular fossa is c-shaped and prevents side-to-side movement of jaw in most carnivores

1. Somewhat more movement allowed in omnivorous species; this is reflected by a less c-shaped fossa

D. Almost all carnivores have an os baculum, a penis bone

1. Function is unknown

E. Most also have anal sacs

1. These function in communication and defense

F. Nearly all carnivores have well-developed claws

1. They are retractable in many cats so they will stay sharp

G. Meat is easy to digest, and carnivore stomachs tend to be simple

III. Fossil History

A. The earliest fossil carnivore is from 65 mya

B. The earliest modern type of carnivore (i.e., one with a recognizable carnassial) is from 50 mya

C. The earliest aquatic carnivores are known from about 15 mya

1. Note: They keep calling these "pinnipeds", but pinniped is clearly an incorrect term; not supported as a natural group in their own figure

IV. Economics and Conservation

A. Many carnivores have a long and close history with humans

1. Dogs were the first mammals to be domesticated

2. Cats have also been domesticated for thousands of years

B. Many carnivores important as furbearers

C. They have also been associated with causing damage, especially damage to livestock

1. There is only scanty evidence that they have caused much economic damage

2. Persecution has greatly reduced their range and numbers

a. The wolf extirpated in the Black Hills area in a few years in the early 1900’s

b. This has caused a concomitant rise in coyote numbers, which have moved into areas and habitats formerly occupied by wolves

c. Grizzly bears have also been extirpated in many areas; a few a day were seen in the Black Hills at one time

D. Have also been important as big-game trophies and have been seriously overharvested

E. Have also been overharvested for a variety of reasons

1. Aphrodisiacs: Some seals

2. As health balms: black bear gall bladders

V. Families: Suborder Feliformia, the first three are all fairly large families; the 4th is small

A. Felidae: The cats; 18 genera, 36 species

1. Distribution worldwide, except Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar, Japan, most oceanic islands (think about it, can’t disperse well to oceanic islands)

2. Morphology: characterized by a number of anatomical features

a. Shortened rostrum

b. Well-developed carnassials

c. Large canine teeth

i. These are usually used to deliver a lethal bite when killing prey

d. Reduced number of teeth

e. All have strongly recurved retractile claws (except cheetahs)

f. All have papillae on top of tongue

i. Purpose is unknown, but in domestic cats they certainly help to shed hair

3. Body size from 2-300 kg

4. Most cats are semiarboreal

5. Almost all species feed on mammals and birds, although a couple of species feed on fish, mollusks, and frogs

a. They tend to stalk prey or ambush it

6. Most are nocturnal

7. Most are solitary, although lions will form social groups

8. 17 species are endangered, with many of these critically endangered

9. Interesting fact: cheetah is the fastest mammal in the world

B. Herpestidae: the mongooses; about as large a family as the cats (18 genera, 37 species)

1. These are very similar to viverrids (used to be included in the Viverridae), but many differences (outlined in table 15.1, p. 263)

a. Tail length is shorter

b. No webbing between the digits

c. Non-retractile claws (retractile in viverrids)

d. Ears shorter

e. Pelage is usually uniform in color

f. Usually, mongooses are social

g. Mongooses are terrestrial, not arboreal

2. Mongooses are small, with body mass from 0.3 kg to ~5.0 kg

3. Found in tropical Africa, the Middle East, and Asia

a. One of the only two carnivore families found in Madagascar

4. They are feeding generalists, but many species are excellent predators on reptiles and especially snakes

a. Because they were introduced to many (mostly British) islands to control rats (which are nocturnal and seldom encountered by mongooses), they have caused population declines in a number of reptiles and extinctions of a variety of snakes

b. Incorrect statement: the Indian mongoose is not the only mongoose introduced to the West Indies, and the Indian mongoose is not the species found on Hawaii

5. The Liberian mongoose is endangered

C. Viverridae: civets and genets; 20 genera, 34 species

1. A quite diverse group

a. Some are similar to cats

b. Some are similar to mongooses

c. Some are similar to racoons

d. Others are scavengers

2. A tropical and subtropical Old World group

a. Also found in Madagascar

3. Two species are endangered

D. Hyaenidae: the smallest feliform group (4 genera, 4 species)

1. Found in the Middle East, India, and Africa

2. They are usually the most abundant large carnivore in these areas

3. Most are relatively large, somewhat larger than dogs

4. Most look somewhat similar to dogs, but with a more sloping morphology

5. They are highly efficient scavengers

a. One hyaenid, the aardwolf, is myrmecophagous

6. Social groups are dominated by females, which are larger than males and have external genitalia that look similar to a penis (it is an enlarged vulva)

a. This is called a pseudopenis; the picture of the hyena on p. 263 (fig. 15.12) shows this

7. The brown hyena is endangered due to persecution because they are perceived as livestock predators

VI. Families: suborder Caniformia; mostly dog-like families, but some seals and the walrus

A. About equal numbers of genera in the feliforms and caniforms

B. Canidae: the nominal genus, but not the biggest in the caniforms (13 genera, 33 species)

1. These are the wolves, coyotes, foxes, dingo, dholes, jackals, and dog

2. Canids are widespread, but not native to Australia or New Guinea

a. However, the dingo was introduced some 3500-4000 years ago

3. Found in a wide variety of habitat

4. Also eat a wide variety of food

a. Jackal is primarily a scavenger, and many canids will occasionally scavenge

5. Many are solitary, but some have fairly complex social systems

a. Some are also cooperative hunters

6. Morphology

a. Limbs often long relative to body length

b. From 1 kg to 80 kg (the gray wolf)

c. Have non-retractile claws

d. Skulls have an elongated rostrum

i. Prey are often killed by suffocation and are often shaken violently when captured

e. Have well-developed carnassials and canines (which are named after the family)

7. Several species are trapped for fur and shot for sport

a. Some are also persecuted, such as the gray wolf and red wolf

b. One species is extinct, also probably persecuted

C. Mustelidae: the largest and most diverse caniform family (25 genera, 65 species)

1. Weasels, skunks, badgers, otters, wolverine

2. Generally, a northern Hemisphere group

3. These are highly specialized predators

4. They are arboreal, terrestrial, and also aquatic (both marine and freshwater)

5. Morphology

a. Tend to have long bodies with relatively short limbs

b. Range in size from 30 g to 55 kg (wolverine)

c. Carnassials are well-developed, but there is a wide variety of adaptations reflected in the teeth

d. Since they are strongly carnivorous, they have highly c-shaped mandibular fossae with little give in the jaw movement

6. Mustelids have enlarged anal scent glands for which they’re well known

a. The excretion from these glands is called musk

b. This is extremely powerful smelling, and is often used for defense

i. Notice fig. 15.14, p. 264, which shows a zorilla; this animal has warning coloration convergent on the North American skunk

7. The black-footed ferret is highly endangered

a. At one time thought to be extinct (until a rancher’s dog brought back a dead one)

b. It is now being brought back from the brink of extinction through re-introductions

i. These re-introductions depend on successfully managing for larger prairie dog populations (itself a threatened species)

ii. The most successful re-introductions are currently on Badlands National Park and the adjacent Buffalo Gap National Grasslands

D. Procyonidae: 6 genera, 18 species

1. Restricted to tropics and temperate zone of the New World

2. Tend to inhabit forests and wet areas

3. Range from 1-18 kg (racoon) in size

4. These are omnivores with a very generalized diet

5. The racoon is a good example of a procyonid

a. It is found throughout much of the U.S.

E. Phocidae: the true seals; 10 genera, 19 species

1. Remember that these are not that closely related to the rest of the seals and the walrus

2. Found in polar, subpolar, and temperate water around the world

a. One genus (the monk seals) found in tropical water

3. Most are oceanic, but some are found in estuaries and in lakes (Lake Baikal seal)

4. Morphology

a. Like most seals and the walrus, fusiform body with flippers

b. Clumsy on land

c. Valve on nose to block water

d. Have a thick nictitating membrane to protect eye under water

e. Highly variable in size, from 35 (Lake Baikal seal) to 3700 kg (northern elephant seal)

f. They are the most aquatically adapted of all carnivores

5. Most eat fish and cephalopods

6. Several are endangered, many due to overharvest; at least one is extinct

F. Ursidae: 6 genera and 19 species; most closely related to the otariids and the walrus

1. Historically occurred throughout North America, the Andes, Eurasia, and Atlas Mountains (north Africa)

2. Found from tropical forests to polar ice floes

3. Body mass from 5-800 kg (polar bears and the grizzly)

a. Polar and grizzly bears are the largest terrestrial carnivore

4. Most bears look similar

5. The northern species den up and sleep through winter

a. This is called winter lethargy, and they are not hibernators

6. Most are omnivorous, but one myrmecophagous species

7. Most species have been reduced throughout their range for a variety of reasons

a. Grizzlies endangered

b. Pandas highly endangered

c. Asiatic black bears are endangered

d. Mexican subspecies of grizzly is recently extinct

e. Recently, the North American black bear has been heavily hunted for their gallbladder, valued in Asiatic traditional medicine

G. Odobenidae: the walrus, monotypic

1. Circumpolar in shallow arctic water

2. Not quite the divers that the two families of seals are

3. However, still have the fusiform bodies and flippers, and are clumsy on land

4. Very large, with males from 1000-1600 kg

5. Like most seals, they have blubber, but they have an extensive layer because of their distribution in cold seas

6. Their unique feature is the tusk

a. These are enlarged upper canines (see fig. 15.18, p. 268)

b. These are used to forage and in defense

i. May be a sexually selected character; used by males in male-male combat

7. They are found in social groups from 100-1000 individuals

8. They have been hunted for years, and 10-15,000 are taken each year

a. However, the population appears stable

H. Otariidae: the fur seals and sea lions (7 genera, 14 species); see picture, fig. 15.19, p. 268

1. Found in subpolar, temperate, coastal waters of western North America, South America, Asia, southern Australia, New Zealand, and oceanic islands

2. These are similar in body form to the phocids, but have a variety of differences listed in Table 15.2, p. 267

a. Most obvious is that they have an external ear pinnae, whereas phocids have don’t

3. They also feed on fish, cephalopods, and crustaceans

4. Can occur in breeding congregations up to 1,000,000, but usually far less than this

a. However, they are more gregarious than phocids

5. Many species were harvested at one time, but they seem to bounce back from overharvest

a. Relatively little harvest now, however some are threatened, and one is probably extinct