IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Davis, D.D. | |
| The arteries of the forearm in carnivores | |
| 1941 Zoological Series (27): 137-227 | |
Dissection of the forearm arteries of 35 carnivores reveals that: (a) individual anomalies of the type common in human anatomy are singularly rare. (b) The vessel patterns in this region afford important evidence as to inter-family and inter-generic relationships. (c) To some extent vessel patterns may be correlated with functional specializations of the foreleg. The Canidae exhibit little variation in the pattern. It is an extermely primitive one, fundamentally different from the pattern in other Arctoidea. The Procyonidae, Ailuridae, and Ursidae, with two individual exceptions, form a compact, closely knit group, with a comparatively specialized vessel pattern. (a) _Procyon_ has a very aberrant, but basically quite primitive, pattern. It is, however, different from that of the Canidae. (b) _Potos_ differs basically from all other Arctoidea, exhibiting several mustelid characters. The Mustelidae differ from the Arctoidea in several basic features, but limited material makes evaluation of inter-generic differences impossible. The Viverridae exhibit the least primitive pattern among the Aeluroidea. Limited material prevents evaluation of characters and the variations they show. The Herpestidae have a somewhat more primitive pattern than the Viverridae, but differ from the Viverridae and all other carnivores in the condition of the deep dorsal metacarpals. The Hyaenidae have the most primitive vessel pattern among the Carnivora. This, however, is associated with several cursorial adaptations. The Felidae fall into two types, and these agree with the subfamilies Pantherinae and Felinae of Pocock. _Acinonyx_ has a highly specialized pattern, which, however, agrees fundamentally with that of the Pantherinae. |
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