All Bears are largely vegetarian and insect feeders; but this Bear is especially so. It delights in the nests of Termites, and its energy in destroying these hills for the sake of their inhabitants is so great that the name of "sloth" appeared to Sir Samuel Baker to be an entire misnomer.
Aeluropus, a rare Carnivore with but one species, A. melanoleucus, is not inferior in size to the Brown Bear, and is distinguished by its largely white coloration. It was discovered in the mountains of East Thibet by Père David, and described by Milne-Edwards[1] as a distinct and new genus, the discoverer himself having named it as a species of Ursus. It is a vegetable-feeding creature and bulky in form, with a rudimentary tail and a short broad head; in fact, more like a Bear than a Procyonid (with which group it is placed by some). The width of the head, however, is greater than in any other Carnivore; it is most closely approached in this by Aelurus and by Hyaena. The molar formula is Pm 4/3 M 2/3. The soles are hairy. There is no alisphenoid canal. The molars are especially large and multicuspid.
Fig. 226.—Aeluropus melanoleucus. × 1⁄12.
Fossil Ursidae.—The genus Ursus itself goes back to Pliocene times. The well-known Cave Bear, Ursus spelaeus of Pleistocene
- ↑ Nouv. Arch. Mus. vii. 1872, Bull. p. 92; and Recherches pour servir à l'histoire naturelle des Mammifères, 1868-1874, p. 321. This genus has quite recently (Lankester, Trans. Linn. Soc. viii. 1901, p. 163) been definitely referred to the Procyonidae.
