ZOOLOGICAL
16
It is interesting to note that a fossil species of Panda has been found in the English Pliocene Crag, thus indicating a much wider range of the family in the past. Several other extinct species, all true Procyonidse, are known from the Tertiary beds of North and South America.
MUSTELID^: (Weasels, Martens, Polecats, Badgers, Otters, &c. ;
174 Species). Plate 5, Map ii.
The members of this large family are found in all the zoological regions except the Australian, but are most abundant in the Nearctic, Pal®arctic and Oriental regions. Africa has only about a dozen peculiar species, while in South America the family is likewise somewhat poorly represented. Britain possesses half a dozen species, namely, the Pine Marten, Polecat, Stoat or Ermine, Weasel, Badger and Otter.
The present family has been divided into three sub-families, the first of which (Mustelinee) contains the typical forms known as Weasels, Polecats and Martens, and the much larger animals called Gluttons or Wolverenes (Gulo). The last-named inhabit the wooded regions of Northern Europe, Asia and America, and three species are known. Fossil remains of Gluttons have been found, though very rarely, in cave and other deposits in England and Wales. They are somewhat bear-like in appearance, almost exclusively nocturnal in habits, and remarkable for their voracity.
The typical genus Mustela contains 12 species known as Martens, half of which are found in the Old World, ranging from Britain and Scandinavia through Northern Asia to Kamchatka and in a south-easterly direction as far as Java, Borneo and Palawan. The other six are found in North America from California and Pennsylvania northwards to Alaska, Lake Superior and Labrador. The fur of several species of this genus is much valued, that of the Sable (M. zibellina)—a Marten inhabiting the forests of Northern Asia and Kamchatka—deserving special mention. A dark skin of this species from Okhotsk has been known to command a price of £90, the poorest qualities ranging from 4s. to 8s. The American Sable (M. americana), a species closely allied to the last, is also of much importance as a fur producer, though the individual skin is not nearly so valuable as that of its Asiatic relative. In some years more than 100,000 skins are imported into Great Britain, chiefly from the Hudson Bay district.
The semi-aquatic Minks, the Polecats, Stoats or Ermines, and Weasels together form the genus Ptitorius, some or other of which range in the Old World from the Arctic shores southwards to Northern Africa, and from Ireland eastwards to Borneo and Palawan, while in the New World they occur from Arctic America southwards through Central America as far as Eastern Peru. The Minks and the Ermine furnish us with fur of considerable value, the latter animal being merely the Stoat in its white winter coat.
The second sub-family (Melinsd) contains such well-known animals as the Badgers, Skunks and Ratels. Of the true Badgers (Meles, see Map) eight species are known, which are found in Europe and Asia, from about latitude 60°, to the Mediterranean countries, Persia, Tibet, and Southern China. In the New World their place is taken by an animal known as the American Badger (Taxidea americana). This is a nocturnal species, ranging from Hudson Bay to Mexico, and hibernating in winter in the colder districts. The common Badger (Meles taxus) is similar to its American relative in habits, and its fur is put to much the same uses, being also made into brushes. The Skunks (Mephitis and Conepatus, see Map) are exclusively American and are wide-ranging. There are several species, all of which are more or less nocturnal in habit, and are well protected by the remarkable nauseous secretion which is so well-known. The Ratels (Mellivora), sometimes called Honey-Badgers, are three in number, and are confined to India and Africa.
The third and last sub-family (Lutrinse) contains the Otters, of which 16 species are known. The true Otters (Lutra) have a remarkably wide distribution, wider in fact than any other genus of Mammals (with the exception of certain Bats). In the Old World they range from Britain and Scandinavia eastwards to Kamchatka and Japan and southwards to the Cape of Good Hope in the Ethiopian region and to Borneo and Java in the Oriental. In the New World Otters are found from Canada to the Straits of Miagellan. The Sea-Otter (Latax lutris), the only representative of its genus, is, as its English name implies, marine in its habits, occurring along the Pacific coasts of North America, and also on the shores of Kamchatka and northern Japan. The fur of both this animal and the true Otters is of much value for trimmings. About 9000 skins of the North American species and 1500 of the Sea-Otter are used annually. At recent fur sales in London as much as £240 per skin was realised in the case of the latter.
About 100 species of this interesting family are known in a fossil state. Of these, the great majority are Palrearctic, but a few occur in the Oriental, Nearctic and Neotropical regions. In Europe they date back as far as the Upper Eocene period, and they have been abundant in the Northern Hemisphere since the early part of the Pliocene period.
URSID.® (Bears; 29 Species). Plate 5, Map iii.
Bears are widely distributed, and found principally in the northern portions of both the Old and New Worlds. In the former they extend southwards to the Atlas Mountains in North Africa and in Asia to Southern India, Ceylon, Sumatra and Borneo. In America they occur from the Arctic regions south to Mexico and Florida, while two species are found in the Andes from Columbia to Bolivia and Chili. They are thus entirely absent from the Ethiopian and Australian regions.
The Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) is met with throughout the whole of the Arctic regions (see Map). It feeds principally on seals and walrus, but also in some parts of its range upon fish and in summer upon vegetable
Two fossil species are known, from the Pliocene of England and Belgium.
OTARIIILE (Eared-Seals, Fur-Seals, Hair-Seals, Sea-Lions and Sea-Bears; 14 Species). Plate 4, Map vi.
These animals are distinguished from the Phocidse by the presence of a small external ear, and by the fact that their hind limbs are turned forwards in the direction of the head. They are widely distributed along the shores of the Pacific, ranging from Bering Strait down the western coast of America to California, and from the Galapagos Islands to Tierra del Fuego, and up the eastern coast as far as the Rio de la Plata and Rio de Janeiro. They also range southwards down the Asiatic coast to Japan, along the eastern and southern shores of Australia and New Zealand, and thence across to the Cape of Good Hope. They are quite absent from the North Atlantic. A single fossil species is known, from Parana (La Plata).
In addition to the ordinary covering of long, stiff hairs, certain of the species possess an exceedingly fine, dense and woolly fur. The stiff hair is more deeply rooted than the fine fur, so that when the skin is shaved away from within, the former comes away, leaving the beautiful under-fur intact. By this means the valuable material so much used for wearing apparel under the name of “ seal-skin ” is prepared, realising from £2 to £10 per hide. The best skins are furnished by young males and females. The largest members of the family are useless as fur-producers, their commercial value being limited to their production of oil and leather. They are consequently distinguished from their smaller and more valuable relatives by the name of “hair-seals.”
The first of the three genera included in this family is one containing a single species known as the Southern Sea-Lion (Otaria byronia). This animal is a “hair-seal,” and inhabits the Galapagos Islands and the South American shores from Peru and Chili round by Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands as far up the Atlantic coast as Rio de la Plata.
The second genus (Eumetopias) comprises four species. The first of these (E. jubata or stelleri), known as the Northern Sea-Lion, is a “hair-seal,” inhabiting the shores of the Northern Pacific from Bering Strait to California and Japan, and also the Prybiloff Islands. It is the largest member of the family, sometimes measuring 13 feet in length. The other three species of this genus are also “hair-seals,” and inhabit the shores of California, the coasts of Australia and adjacent islands, and the Auckland Islands respectively.
With the third genus, known as Arotocephalus, we come to the true “fur-seals,” nine in number. Four of these are found in the Northern Hemisphere, the best known of which is the Northern Sea-Bear or Fur-Seal (A. ursinus). This is the most important species of all from an economic point of view, and its chief resorts at the present day are the two islands of St Paul’s and St George’s in the Prybiloff group, although smaller herds are found on the Commander Islands. In former years it ranged over the shores of the northern Pacific from Kamchatka to Japan, and from the Prybiloff Islands to southern California. Enormous numbers of animals inhabit the two islands mentioned above in the summer months, but in the winter they migrate southwards to follow the fish upon which they feed. They return northwards in the following May, or June, collecting in certain spots which have been called “rookeries.” Here the males engage in fierce conflicts, first for the possession of the soil, and next for their mates, who arrive about the middle of June. The breeding season lasts until September, and during these few months the islands are visited by the sealers, who are limited by law as to the number permitted to be slain. As is well known, the British Government recently successfully contested the claim of the United States to exclusive sealing in these islands.
The remaining five species of Arctocephalus range over the shores of the Southern Hemisphere, from the Galapagos Islands, down the South American coast to the Antarctic regions, Kerguelen Island, the Cape of Good Hope, Crozet Island, Australia, and New Zealand. They are similar to the other Fur-Seals in habits, and are also much sought after by the sealers.
PROCYONID-S: (Raccoons, Cacomistles, Coatis, the Kinkajou and the Panda; 23 Species.) Plate 5, Map i.
With the exception of the curious animal known as the Panda or Cat Bear (Ailurus), which inhabits the south-eastern Himalayas, and the single species of Ailuropus mentioned below, the members of this family are entirely confined to the New World, especially Central and South America. The Raccoons (Procyon), the typical members of the family, are six in number, and range from Alaska to Paraguay. They are essentially carnivorous, feeding upon a variety of smaller animals, and in the colder part of their range hibernating in the depth of winter. About half a million Raccoons are annually slaughtered for the sake of their fur, which resembles that of the Beaver.
The Panda (Ailurus fulgens) has been considered by some authors as the type of a distinct family, by others it has been placed with the Bears (TJrsidse), as was also the animal known as Ailuropus melanoleucus, to be presently mentioned. The Panda is an animal a little larger than a cat, found in the south-eastern portion of the Himalayas at an elevation of from 7000 to 12,000 feet. Eastwards it extends to Yunnan and Sechuen, but in the opposite direction is unknown beyond Nepal. This interesting species is not carnivorous, but feeds principally upon various fruits, young shoots or roots. The species bearing the name of Ailuropus melanoleucus, and recently christened in popular parlance the “ Great Panda,” is a curious bear-like and extremely rare animal inhabiting the most inaccessible parts of Moupin in Eastern Tibet, and said to be entirely herbivorous.