William Henry Flower and Richard Lydekker

“ As soon as they begin to require other food than her milk, she kills for them, teaching them to do so for themselves by practising on small animals, such as deer and young calves or pigs. At these times she is wanton and extravagant in her cruelty, killing apparently for the gratification of her ferocious and bloodthirsty nature, and perhaps to excite and instruct the young ones, and it is not until they are thoroughly capable of killing their own food that she separates from them. The young tigers are far more destructive than the old. ”

“ At times, and not unfrequently, a troop may be heard, roaring in concert, one assuming the lead, and two, three or four more regularly taking up their parts, like persons singing a catch. Like our Scottish stags at the rutting season, they roar loudest in cold frosty nights ”

“ This species is stationary all the year round, but some have a regular season of migration, moving south in winter and north in summer. They are usually harmless, timid, inoffensive animals, though, being polygamous, the old males often fight desperately with each other, their skins being frequently found covered with wounds and scars. They are greatly attached to their young, and remarkably docile and easily trained when in captivity; indeed there is perhaps no wild animal which attaches itself so readily to the person by whom it is cared for and fed. ”

“ The camels (Tylopoda) certainly originated in the northern hemisphere, but although their birthplace has been confidently claimed for North America, an equal, if not stronger, claim may be made on the part of Central Asia. From the latter area, where wild camels still exist, the group may be assumed to have made its way at an early period into North America; whence, at a much later date, it finally penetrated into South America. In the Old World it seems to have reached the fringe of the African continent, where its wanderings in a wild state were stayed. ”

“ Origin of Mammals.—That mammals have become differentiated from a lower type of vertebrates at least as early as the commencement of the Jurassic period is abundantly testified by the occurrence of the remains of small species in strata of that epoch, some of which are mentioned in the articles Marsupialia and Monotremata (q.v.) . Possibly mammalian remains also occur in the antecedent Triassic epoch, some palaeontologists regarding the South African Tritylodon as a mammal, while others consider that it was probably a reptile. ”

“ In the North Pacific a similar if not identical whale is regularly hunted by the Japanese, who tow the carcases ashore for the purpose of flensing and extracting the whalebone. In the tropical seas, however, right whales are never or rarely seen; but the southern temperate ocean, especially in the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope, Kerguelen’s Island, Australia and New Zealand, is inhabited by “black whales,” once abundant, but now nearly exterminated through the wanton destruction of the females as they visit the bays and inlets round the coast, their constant habit in the breeding time. ”

“ When the mouth is opened, their elasticity causes them to straighten out like a bow unbent, so that at whatever distance the jaws are separated the strainer remains in perfect action, filling the whole of the interval. The mechanical perfection of the arrangement is completed by the great development of the lower lip, which rises stiffly above the jaw-bone and prevents the long, slender, flexible ends of the whalebone from being carried outwards by the rush of water from the mouth, when its cavity is being diminished by the closure of the jaws and raising of the tongue. ”

“ The bones of the skeleton generally more resemble those of the Indian elephant than of any other species, but the skull differs in the narrower summit, narrower temporal fossae, and more prolonged incisive sheaths, supporting the roots of the enormous tusks. Among the external characters by which the mammoth was distinguished from either of the existing species of elephant was the dense clothing, not only of long, coarse outer hair, but also of close under woolly hair of a reddish-brown colour, evidently in adaptation to the cold climate it inhabited. ”

“ The mouth of the great majority of mammals is peculiar for being guarded by thick fleshy lips, which are, however, absent in the Cetacea; their principal function being to seize the food, for which purpose they are endowed, as a rule, with more or less strongly marked prehensile power. The roof of the mouth is formed by the palate, terminating behind by a muscular, contractile arch, having in man and a few other species a median projection called the uvula, beneath which the mouth communicates with the pharynx. ”

“ As regards function, the tail may be a mere pendent appendage, or may be adapted to grasp boughs in climbing, or even to collect food or materials for a nest or sleeping place, as in the spider-monkeys, opossums and rat-kangaroos. Among jumping animals it may serve as a balance, as in the case of jerboas and kangaroos, while in the latter it is also used as a support when resting; among many hoofed mammals it is used as a fly-whisk; and in whales and dolphins, as well as in the African Potamogale and the North American musquash, it plays an important part in swimming. ”

“ The number of young in each nest is generally five, sometimes only three occasionally seven or eight, and at least two broods are produced annually. Their food is entirely vegetable, especially grass roots and stalks, shoots of dwarf birch, reindeer lichens and mosses, in search of which they form, in winter, long galleries through the turf or under the snow. They are restless, courageous and pugnacious little animals. When suddenly disturbed, instead of trying to escape they sit upright, with their back against a stone, hissing and showing fight in a determined manner. ”

“ As regards terrestrial mammals (with which alone we are at present concerned) , one of the most striking features in their distribution is their practical absence from oceanic islands; the only species found in such localities being either small forms which might have been carried on floating timber, or such as have been introduced by human agency. This absence of mammalian life in oceanic islands extends even to New Zealand, where the indigenous mammals comprise only two peculiar species of bats, the so-called Maori rat having been introduced by man. ”

“ All the American species are of a nearly uniform dark brown or blackish colour when adult; but it is a curious circumstance that when young (and in this the Malay species conforms with the others) they are conspicuously marked with spots and longitudinal stripes of white or fawn colour on a darker ground.
In habits all tapirs appear to be very similar. They are solitary, nocturnal, shy and inoffensive, chiefly frequenting the depths of shady forests and the neighbourhood of water, to which they frequently resort for the purpose of bathing, and in which they often take refuge when pursued. ”

“ The circumstance which has given popular interest to the lemming is that certain districts of the cultivated lands of Norway and Sweden, where in ordinary circumstances they are unknown, are, at uncertain intervals varying from five to twenty or more years, overrun by an army of these little creatures, which steadily and slowly advance, always in the same direction, and regardless of all obstacles, swimming streams and even lakes of several miles in breadth, and committing considerable devastation on their line of march by the quantity of food they consume. ”

“ Scent-glands, &c.—Besides the universally distributed sweat-glands connected with the hair-system, most mammals have special glands in modified portions of the skin, often involuted to form a shallow recess or a deep sac with a narrow opening, situated in various parts of the surface of the body, and secreting odorous substances, by the aid of which individuals recognize one another. These probably afford the principal means by which wild animals are able to become aware of the presence of other members of the species, even at great distances. ”

“ Although seals swim and dive with the greatest ease, often remaining as much as a quarter of an hour or more below the surface, and are dependent for their sustenance entirely on living prey captured in the water, all the species frequently resort to sandy beaches, rocks or ice-floes, either to sleep or to bask in the sun, and especially for the purpose of bringing forth their young. The latter appears to be the universal habit, and the young seals—of some species at least—take to the water at first very reluctantly, and have to be taught to swim by their parents. ”

“ Kangaroos are vegetable-feeders, browsing on grass and various kinds of herbage, but the smaller species also eat roots. They are naturally timid and inoffensive, but the larger kinds when hard pressed will turn and defend themselves, sometimes killing a dog by grasping it in their fore-paws, and inflicting terrible wounds with the sharp claws of their powerful hind-legs, supporting themselves meanwhile upon the tail. ”

“ To realize the fallacy of this notion we have only to consider what a fish really is, what under all the diversities of form, size and colour there is common to all fishes, and we see that in everything which characterizes a true fish and separates if from other classes, as reptiles, birds and mammals, the whale resembles the last and differs from the fish. ”

“ The African species use the nasal horns as weapons, with which they strike and toss their assailant, but the Asiatic rhinoceroses employ their sharp lower tusks much as does a boar. Rhinoceroses are dull of sight, but their hearing and scent are remarkably acute. They feed on herbage, shrubs and leaves of trees, and, like so many other large animals which inhabit hot countries, sleep the greater part of the day, and are most active in the cool of the evening or even during the night. ”

“ When this occurs, every member of each troop sounds a bold roar of defiance at the opposite parties; and when one roars, all roar together, and each seems to vie with his comrades in the intensity and power of his voice. The power and grandeur of these nocturnal concerts is inconceivably striking and pleasing to the hunter’s ear.”
“The usual pace of a lion,” C. J. Andersson says, “is a walk, and, though apparently rather slow, yet, from the great length of his body, he is able to get over a good deal of ground in a short time. Occasionally he trots, when his speed is not inconsiderable. ”

“ The usual colour of the adult is yellowish-brown, but it may vary from a deep red or chestnut brown to an almost silvery grey. The mane, as well as the long hair of the other parts of the body, sometimes scarcely differs from the general colour, but is usually darker and not unfrequently nearly black. The mane begins to grow when the animal is about three years old, and is fully developed at five or six.
In size the lion is only equalled or exceeded by the tiger among existing Felidae ”

“ A full-grown male walrus measures from 10 to 11 ft from the nose to the end of the short tail, and is a heavy, bulky animal, especially thick about the shoulders. The head is rounded, the eyes are rather small, and there are no external ears. The muzzle is short and broad, with, on each side, a group of stiff, bristly whiskers, which become stouter and shorter in old animals. The tail scarcely projects beyond the skin. ”

“ In the insectivorous type, as exemplified in moles and shrew-mice, the middle pair of incisors in each jaw are long and pointed so as to have a forceps-like action for seizing insects, the hard coats of which are broken up by the numerous sharp cusps surmounting the cheek-teeth.
In the omnivorous type, as exemplified in man and monkeys, and to a less specialized degree in swine, the incisors are of moderate and nearly equal size; the canines, if enlarged, serve for other purposes than holding prey, and such enlargement is usually confined to those of the males ”

“ Some kinds of hairs, as those of the mane and tail of the horse, persist throughout life, but more generally, as in the case of the body-hair of the same animal, they are shed and renewed periodically, generally annually. Many mammals have a longer hairy coat in winter, which is shed as summer comes on ”

“ Lions never climb.
With regard to the character of the lion, those who have had opportunities of observing it in its native haunts differ greatly. The accounts of early writers as to its courage, nobility and magnanimity have led to a reaction, causing some modern authors to accuse it of cowardice and meanness. Livingstone goes so far as to say, “nothing that I ever learned of the lion could lead me to attribute to it either the ferocious or noble character ascribed to it elsewhere,” and he adds that its roar is not distinguishable from that of the ostrich. ”

“ At the present day the lion is found throughout Africa (save in places where it has been exterminated by man) and in Mesopotamia, Persia, and some parts of north-west India. According to Dr W. T. Blanford, lions are still numerous in the reedy swamps, bordering the Tigris and Euphrates, and also occur on the west flanks of the Zagros mountains and the oak-clad ranges near Shiraz, to which they are attracted by the herds of swine which feed on the acorns. The lion nowhere exists in the table-land of Persia, nor is it found in Balūchistān. ”

“ As to the external features by which the grey seal may at any age be distinguished from the bearded seal, which it most resembles, in the first place the abnormal season of reproduction in this species is unique; it is the only seal which has its young in the late autumn. The large size is not a very trustworthy distinction, as it varies considerably in individuals; but a marked feature is the great length of the claws in the fore-flipper, the first two digits of which are nearly of equal length and extend beyond the others ”

“ In the floor of the mouth, between the two branches of the lower jaw, and supported behind by the hyoid apparatus, lies the tongue, an organ the free surface of which, especially in its posterior part, is devoted to the sense of taste, but which by reason of its great mobility (being composed almost entirely of muscular fibres) performs important mechanical functions connected with masticating and procuring food. Its modifications of form in different mammals are numerous. ”