It suggests to us that
as geological exploration is extended, many similar discoveries
may be made. The slenderness of the geological record is a defect
that the future may considerably modify.
From this summary review of the evolution of the Ungulates we
must now pass to an even briefer account of the evolution of the
Carnivores. The evidence is less abundant, but the characters of
the Carnivores consist so obviously of adaptations to their
habits and diet that we have little difficulty in imagining their
evolution. Their early Eocene ancestors, the Creodonts, gave rise
in the Eocene to forms which we may regard as the forerunners of
the cat-family and dog-family, to which most of our familiar
Carnivores belong. Patriofelis, the "patriarchal cat," about five
or six feet in length (without the tail), curiously combines the
features of the cat and the seal-family. Cyonodon has a wolf-like
appearance, and Amphicyon rather suggests the fox. Primitive
weasels, civets, and hyaenas appear also in the Eocene. The
various branches of the Carnivore family are already roughly
represented, but it is an age of close relationships and
generalised characters.
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