Most carnivorans have acute senses. Vision and hearing are excellent in many, often far surpassing the capabilities of humans. Domestic cats and other carnivores that hunt small rodents can hear ultrasounds emitted by their prey. Most carnivorans come equipped with tactile hairs (vibrissae) on the face and legs, which they use to feel their way through narrow, dark surroundings. The sense of smell is often remarkable. Carnivorans make extensive use of chemical signals excreted in urine and feces and produced by glands in the skin and anal region. They use these chemical signals for scent-marking territories and for conveying information about identity, social status, and reproductive status. Carnivorans also communicate acoustically with a variety of yips, howls, barks, growls, roars, and purrs. These sounds have various functions, including strengthing social bonds, advertising for mates, defending territories, and communicating alarm, distress, and contentment. Social carnivores such as lions sometimes erupt into choruses of loud roars as a means of calling one another to assemble. Visual signals, mainly in the form of body posturing, are also used by carnivorans to communicate, and tactile signals, as when a wolf licks and bites the muzzle of a dominant individual to show submission, are used as well.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Other Communication Modes: choruses ; pheromones ; scent marks
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; ultrasound ; chemical
Members of Carnivora have been feared, persecuted, and exploited by humans for centuries. There are currently 122 species on the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species. Of these, 11 are near threatened, 9 are lower risk, 39 are vulnerable, 33 are endangered, 6 are critically endangered, 5 have recently gone extinct, and one, black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes), is extinct in the wild, although reintroduction efforts show promise. Another 18 are listed as data deficient. Major threats to carnivorans include habitat loss and degradation and hunting for sport and profit. Rare species often fetch top dollar on the black market, even though trade in these species is strictly regulated by CITES and by national laws. Captive breeding programs may be the last chance for the survival of some species, such as giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). In some cases, reintroduction of species into areas where they were previously extirpated has been successful, as with the wolves of Yellowstone. In order to save carnivorans from extinction in the long term, large swaths of habitat and healthy populations of prey species must be preserved in all parts of the world, and humans must learn to coexist peacefully with these animals.
Members of the mammalian order Carnivora are the descendants of a successful late Paleocene radiation of mammals whose primitive food habits were carnivorous. The name "Carnivora" is sometimes taken to mean that members of this group are all carnivorous or that all carnivorous mammals are members of this group. This is not so. Members of Carnivora have diverse food habits, although many are primarily carnivorous, and carnivory is widely distributed in mammals, being found in many other orders including bats, marsupial mammals, primates, and dolphins and whales.
We recognize 13 extant families and around 270 species of Carnivora.
Carnivorans also have negative impacts on humans. They may compete with humans for game and prey on livestock. Occasionally, large carnivorans even attack and kill humans. Omnivorous species may raid fruit crops, and in urban areas carnivorans become pests when they raid garbage cans and take up residence inside chimneys and under porches. They also carry diseases and parasites, such as rabies, that can be transmitted to humans and domestic animals.
Negative Impacts: injures humans (bites or stings, carries human disease); crop pest; causes or carries domestic animal disease ; household pest
Humans benefit from carnivorans in many ways. Humans have hunted them for thousands of years for sport and for their fur, meat, and other body parts. Bones and soft tissues of tigers (Panthera tigris) and other large carnivores have long been used in traditional Asian medicine. Millions of small carnivores such as red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and mink (Neovison vison) are raised on farms for their fur. Carnivorans are also valuable to humans for their ability to control rodents and other pests, and domesticated cats, dogs, and other carnivorans are popular pets worldwide.
Positive Impacts: pet trade ; food ; body parts are source of valuable material; ecotourism ; source of medicine or drug ; research and education; controls pest population
Carnivorans are important predators in many ecosystems, acting as a "top-down" control on populations of their prey. Many are such an important control on their prey that they act as keystone species, and their removal has drastic consequences for the ecosystem. For example, wolves were recently reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park after being extirpated for nearly 70 years, and their predation on elk has allowed woody plants to recover from overbrowsing.
Carnivores host a wide range of internal and external parasites, including protozoans, nematodes, trematodes, cestodes, fleas, lice, and ticks.
Ecosystem Impact: keystone species
Commensal/Parasitic Species:
Animal matter makes up a substantial portion of the diet of most carnivorans. However, not all members of Carnivora are carnivorous. Some, such as bears and raccoons, are decidedly omnivorous, and giant pandas are primarily vegetarian. Foods consumed by carnivorans include mammals, birds and eggs, reptiles, amphibians, fish, carrion, insects and other arthropods, earthworms, mollusks, crustaceans, fruit, nuts, tubers, leaves, shoots, and plankton (on which crabeater seals specialize).
Carnivorans have various means of capturing their prey. Some ambush prey, overtaking it in a sudden burst of speed, others chase prey over long distances and slowly tire it out. Some (such as skunks) simply shuffle about and eat whatever they happen to come across. Still others scavenge from carcasses or, in urban areas, from garbage cans. Some carnivores, such as arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) are known to cache their kills for later consumption. Crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophaga) are unique among carnivores in that they are filter feeders. They have specialized teeth which allow them to strain tiny zooplankton, their staple food, from the water.
Foraging Behavior: stores or caches food ; filter-feeding
Primary Diet: carnivore (Eats terrestrial vertebrates, Piscivore , Eats eggs, Insectivore , Eats non-insect arthropods, Molluscivore , Scavenger ); herbivore (Folivore , Frugivore , Granivore ); omnivore ; planktivore
Carnivores are distributed across the world, on all major land masses (except possibly Australia, where the only terrestrial member of Carnivora, dingos (Canis lupus dingo), may have been brought by man) and in all oceans.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); palearctic (Native ); oriental (Native ); ethiopian (Native ); neotropical (Native ); australian (Introduced ); antarctica (Native ); oceanic islands (Native ); arctic ocean (Native ); indian ocean (Native ); atlantic ocean (Native ); pacific ocean (Native ); mediterranean sea (Native )
Other Geographic Terms: cosmopolitan
Carnivores occupy just about every type of terrestrial habitat, and many aquatic habitats as well, from the tropics to the poles. They live in forests, deserts, mountains, grasslands, scrublands, tundra, and on open ice. Aquatic and semi-aquatic species live in freshwater rivers, lakes, and marshes, in marine coastal areas, and in the open ocean.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; polar ; terrestrial ; saltwater or marine ; freshwater
Terrestrial Biomes: tundra ; taiga ; desert or dune ; savanna or grassland ; chaparral ; forest ; rainforest ; scrub forest ; mountains ; icecap
Aquatic Biomes: pelagic ; lakes and ponds; rivers and streams; coastal ; brackish water
Wetlands: marsh ; swamp ; bog
Other Habitat Features: urban ; suburban ; agricultural ; riparian ; estuarine
Carnivores are relatively long-lived mammals, with most species living at least a decade. The main exceptions are small weasels (Mustela), which live up to six years in captivity but usually do not make it past one year in the wild. In general, pinniped carnivores live longer than fissiped carnivores, with several species (walruses, gray seals, ringed seals, Caspian seals, and Baikal seals) reported to live 40 or more years in the wild.
Most members of the order Carnivora can be recognized by their enlarged fourth upper premolar and first lower molar, which together form an efficient shear for cutting meat and tendon. These teeth are referred to as the carnassial pair. The exceptions are a few forms, such as bears, raccoons, and seals, in which these teeth are secondarily modified.
Besides usually having carnassials, almost all Carnivora retain the primitive number of incisors (3/3); an exception is the sea otter, which has 2/3. The outer (3rd) incisor is often relatively large and canine-like. The canines are large and conical. The number of teeth behind the carnassials varies considerably, from 1/1 in some cats to 2/2 in bears. All teeth are rooted and diphyodont.
The skulls of carnivorans are varied in form. Most have a well-defined, transverse glenoid fossa, and the dominant motion of the jaw is in the dorsal-ventral direction. The primary muscle powering the jaw is the temporal, and sagittal crest associated with the temporal is commonly a conspicuous part of the surface of the skull. Carnivores also have a strong zygomatic arch and a relatively large braincase. The auditory bullae and the turbinals also tend to be large and complex. Carnivores are fairly intelligent animals and most have relatively large brains. All members of Carnivora have simple stomachs.
Pinnipeds are large, perhaps because water conducts heat well and large animals have a low surface area to body mass ratio, which minimizes heat loss due to conduction. Their bodies are insulated by a thick layer of fat called blubber. In all species, the external ears are small or absent, the external genitalia and nipples are hidden in slits or depressions in the body, and the tail is very small. The forelimbs and hindlimbs are transformed into paddles. In both, the proximal limb elements (humerus and femur) remain within the body, and other aspects of the limbs, limb girdles, and spine are highly specialized for swimming. Most species have a relatively short rostrum, and the orbits are large. The cheek teeth are usually homodont (no differentiation along the toothrow), and the teeth are usually shaped like simple cones.
Carnivores tend to be medium-sized animals; too small and they couldn't find enough within their capacity to kill; too large and they wouldn't be able to satisfy their appetites. However, as a group, carnivores span a wide range of body sizes. Least weasels (Mustela nivalis), the smallest carnivores, can weigh as little as 35 grams, and male southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), the largest carnivores, can weigh more than 3,600 kg. Many carnivore species are sexually dimorphic in size. Usually males are larger than females (as with fishers, lions, and wolves) but in a few species females are larger than males (as with spotted hyenas). Additionally, males of some species have ornamentation that females lack (as is the case with the inflatable probosci of male elephant seals).
Many carnivores have thick, luxurious coats, though some, like walruses, have coats that are quite sparse. Their fur comes in various colors, including black, white, orange, yellow, red, and almost every imaginable shade of gray and brown. In addition, many carnivores are striped, spotted, blotched, banded, or otherwise boldly patterned. Some species, such as gray wolves, are polymorphic for coat color. Domesticated cats and dogs exhibit thousands of combinations of coat colors and body shapes as a result of selective breeding by humans.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; heterothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry ; polymorphic
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike; female larger; male larger; sexes shaped differently; ornamentation
Many carnivorans are top predators in their ecosystems, and therefore do not face the threat of predation as adults, though their young may be vulnerable. Small terrestrial carnivorans face predation by larger carnivorans, and by diurnal and nocturnal birds of prey. Pinnipeds face predation by large cetaceans such as killer whales (Orcinus orca) and by sharks. Many carnivorans, large and small, terrestrial and aquatic, are hunted by humans.
Most carnivorans use their teeth and claws to fend off predators. A carnivore that feels threatened typically crouches and bares its teeth, hissing or growling at its attacker and biting and scratching if the attacker gets too close. Pinnipeds, on the other hand, rely largely on their speed and agility in the water to escape predators. Female carnivorans often hide their helpless infants in a den, and may switch the den location occasionally to avoid detection. Some carnivoran parents are also known to vigorously defend their offspring if necessary. Many carnivorans are the same color as their background (such as Arctic foxes, which turn white in winter to match the snow). They also frequently exhibit countershading or color patterns, such as spots and stripes, that break up their outline and make them difficult to see. A few carnivorans have special adaptations to defend themselves against predators. Skunks and some mustelids, herpestids, and viverrids have well-developed anal glands, which produce a foul-smelling musk that is released under stress. These animals usually bear aposematic coloration in the form of contrasting stripes and bands, warning would-be predators to stay away. Finally, it has been postulated that some carnivorans mimic others to avoid predation. For example, the coloration of cheetah cubs, which are highly vulnerable to predation, may mimic that of honey badgers, which are aposematic and highly aggressive.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: mimic; aposematic ; cryptic
Carnivores have polygynous, polygynandrous, and monogamous mating systems. Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) demonstrate extreme polygyny, wherein males fight for exclusive access to harems of females. Gray wolves (Canis lupus), on the other hand, are monogamous cooperative breeders; the dominant male and female of each pack breed and all members of the pack help raise their offspring. Solitary carnivores, such as bears, mustelids, and cats, are often polygynandrous, with males and females each having multiple partners during the breeding season.
Mating System: monogamous ; polygynous ; polygynandrous (promiscuous) ; cooperative breeder
Carnivores breed either aseasonally or seasonally; those in cold climates usually mate in winter and spring and give birth to their young during spring and summer. Females may be polyestrus or monoestrus; in some species, ovulation is induced by the act of mating. Carnivores may have two or three litters per year (as with least weasels), but most carnivore females have just one litter every one to two years. Delayed implantation, wherein the blastocyst lies quiescent for several months before implanting in the uterine lining, is common in some carnivore families (such as mustelids). After implantation, gestation periods range from five weeks in least weasels to 15 months in walruses. Typical true gestation periods last two to four months. Litter sizes range from 1 to 16, and are commonly 3 to 5. Females nurse their young for up to two years, and the young take up to seven years to reach sexual maturity.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; induced ovulation ; viviparous ; delayed implantation
Female carnivores nurture their young inside their bodies for up to 15 months and provide their young with milk after birth. The length of nursing varies considerably among carnivores. Some phocids only nurse their young for a couple of weeks, whereas walruses nurse their young for up to two years. The duration of lactation in terrestrial carnivores falls between these two extremes. Carnivore young range from highly precocial, harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) pups are able to swim a few minutes after birth, to altricial, as in bears. Female carnivores usually bear the sole responsiblity for nurturing and protecting their offspring, but male parental care is not uncommon, especially among canids. Carnivores that live in groups and breed communally may all share in the task of raising each others' offspring. In some social species, like spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta), the mother's position in the dominance hierarchy determines the position of her offspring. The young of spotted hyenas, wolverines, sea otters, bears, and large felids stay with their mothers for up to two years even though they are weaned well before this time; they depend on their mothers for food until they become proficient at hunting for themselves. In carnivores that form close-knit social groups, bonds between mother and offspring may extend well beyond the period of offspring dependency.
Parental Investment: altricial ; precocial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); post-independence association with parents; extended period of juvenile learning; inherits maternal/paternal territory; maternal position in the dominance hierarchy affects status of young
As treated by Wilson and Mittermeier (2009), the mammalian order Carnivora includes 281 species in 128 genera and 16 families, although the number of species and genera recognized can be expected to fluctuate slightly as a result of new research and based on the opinions of different experts (see family taxon pages for more specific information). Of these 16 families, seven are in the suborder Feliformia and nine are in the suborder Caniformia:
Suborder Feliformia: 120 species in 56 genera
Family Nandiniidae (African Palm Civet): 1 species in 1 genus
Family Felidae (cats): 37 species in 14 genera
Family Prionodontidae (linsangs): 2 species in 1 genus
Family Viverridae (civets, genets, oyans): 34 species in 14 genera
Family Hyaenidae (hyenas): 4 species in 4 genera
Family Herpestidae (mongooses): 34 species in 15 genera
Family Eupleridae (Madagascar carnivores): 8 species in 7 genera
Suborder Caniformia: 161 species in 72 genera
Family Canidae (dogs): 35 species in 13 genera
Family Ursidae (bears): 8 species in 5 genera
Family Otariidae (sea lions): 16 species in 7 genera
Family Odobenidae (Walrus): 1 species in 1 genus
Family Phocidae (earless seals): 19 species in 13 genera
Family Ailuridae (red panda): 1 species in 1 genus
Family Procyonidae (raccoons and relatives): 12 species in 6 genera
Family Mephitidae (skunks): 12 species in 4 genera
Family Mustelidae (weasels and relatives): 57 species in 22 genera
Mammals in the order Carnivora are often referred to as carnivores. This can be confusing, however, since in both popular and scientific usage "carnivore" also means simply "meat-eating"--but many mammals not in the order Carnivora also feed largely or exclusively on meat and many members of the Carnivora are quite omnivorous (and African Palm Civets eat mainly fruit!). For clarity, therefore, some authors prefer to use the term "carnivoran" to refer to a member of the order Carnivora.
The order Carnivora is a morphologically and ecologically diverse group that is distributed across the globe and includes many of the animals humans find most "charismatic". Carnivorans range across five or six orders of magnitude in size from the Least Weasel (Mustela nivalis, which can weigh in at as little as 25 g when fully grown; Larivère and Jennings 2009) to the Southern Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina, weighing in at 2000 to 3000 kg--possibly as much as 5000kg) (Agnarsson et al. 2010; Nyakatura and Bininda-Emonds 2012).
The phylogenetic relationships among the carnivoran families have been the focus of considerable research and controversy, although the structure of some clades is now well established (see references below and EOL family pages for details). One well established finding is that the two suborders comprising the order Carnivora, Feliformia and Caniformia, are indeed reciprocally monophyletic.
Carnivora /kɑːrˈnɪvərə/ is an order of placental mammals that have specialized in primarily eating flesh, whose members are formally referred to as carnivorans. The order Carnivora is the fifth largest order of mammals, comprising at least 279 species.
Carnivorans live on every major landmass and in a variety of habitats, ranging from the cold polar regions to the hyper-arid region of the Sahara Desert to the open seas. They come in a very large array of different body plans in contrasting shapes and sizes.
Carnivora can be divided into two suborders: the cat-like Feliformia and the dog-like Caniformia, which are differentiated based on the structure of their ear bones and cranial features. The feliforms include families such as the cats, the hyenas, the mongooses and the civets. The majority of feliform species are found in the Old World, though the cats and one extinct genus of hyena have successfully diversified into the Americas. The caniforms include the dogs, bears, raccoons, weasels, and seals. Members of this group are found worldwide and with immense diversity in their diet, behavior, and morphology.[9]
The word carnivore is derived from Latin carō (stem carn-) 'flesh' and vorāre 'to devour', and refers to any meat-eating organism.
The oldest known carnivoran line mammals (Carnivoramorpha) appeared in North America 6 million years after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.[10][11] These early ancestors of carnivorans would have resembled small weasel or genet-like mammals, occupying a nocturnal shift on the forest floor or in the trees, as other groups of mammals like the mesonychians and later the creodonts were occupying the megafaunal faunivorous niche. However, following the extinction of mesonychians and the oxyaenid creodonts at the end of the Eocene, carnivorans quickly moved into this niche, with forms like the nimravids being the dominant large-bodied ambush predators during the Oligocene alongside the hyaenodont creodonts (which similarly produced larger, more open-country forms at the start of the Oligocene). By the time Miocene epoch appeared, most if not all of the major lineages and families of carnivorans had diversified and become the most dominant group of large terrestrial predators in Eurasia and North America, with various lineages being successful in megafaunal faunivorous niches at different intervals during the Miocene and later epochs.
The order Carnivora belongs to a group of mammals known as Laurasiatheria, which also includes other groups such as bats and ungulates.[12][13] Within this group the carnivorans are placed in the clade Ferae. Ferae includes the closest extant relative of carnivorans, the pangolins, as well as several extinct groups of mostly Paleogene carnivorous placentals such as the creodonts, the arctocyonians, and mesonychians.[14] The creodonts were originally thought of as the sister taxon to the carnivorans, perhaps even ancestral to, based on the presence of the carnassial teeth,[15] but the nature of the carnassial teeth is different between the two groups. In carnivorans the carnassials are positioned near the front of the molar row, while in the creodonts they are positioned near the back of the molar row,[16] and this suggests a separate evolutionary history and an order-level distinction.[17] In addition recent phylogenetic analysis suggests that creodonts are more closely related to pangolins while mesonychians might be the sister group to carnivorans and their stem-relatives.[14]
The closest stem-carnivorans are the miacoids. The miacoids include the families Viverravidae and Miacidae, and together the Carnivora and Miacoidea form the stem-clade Carnivoramorpha. The miacoids were small, genet-like carnivoramorphs that occupy a variety of niches such as terrestrial and arboreal habitats. Recent studies have shown a supporting amount of evidence that Miacoidea is an evolutionary grade of carnivoramorphs that, while viverravids are monophyletic basal group, the miacids are paraphyletic in respect to Carnivora (as shown in the phylogeny below).[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]
Pan-Carnivora †Hyaenodonta ? ? sensu lato Carnivoramorpha †Viverravidae ? ?†Carnivoramorpha sp. (UALVP 50993 & UALVP 50994)
sensu lato ?†Carnivoramorpha sp. (UALVP 31176)
?†Carnivoramorpha sp. (USNM 538395)
? Carnivoraformes Clade "B"†"Miacis" sp. (CM 67873 & CM 77299)
†Gracilocyon†Gracilocyon sp. (Jibou, Romania)
Clade "C" (†Phlaodectes) †Vulpavus ?†Carnivoraformes undet. Genus B
?†Carnivoraformes undet. Genus A
Clade "D" ? ?Carnivora (sensu stricto) .jpg){kind=small}
Carnivoramorpha as a whole first appeared in the Paleocene of North America about 60 million years ago.[11] Crown carnivorans first appeared around 42 million years ago in the Middle Eocene.[1] Their molecular phylogeny shows the extant Carnivora are a monophyletic group, the crown group of the Carnivoramorpha.[26] From there carnivorans have split into two clades based on the composition of the bony structures that surround the middle ear of the skull, the cat-like feliforms and the dog-like caniforms.[27] In feliforms, the auditory bullae are double-chambered, composed of two bones joined by a septum. Caniforms have single-chambered or partially divided auditory bullae, composed of a single bone.[28] Initially the early representatives of carnivorans were small as the creodonts (specifically, the oxyaenids) and mesonychians dominated the apex predator niches during the Eocene, but in the Oligocene carnivorans became a dominant group of apex predators with the nimravids, and by the Miocene most of the extant carnivoran families have diversified and become the primary terrestrial predators in the Northern Hemisphere.
The phylogenetic relationships of the carnivorans are shown in the following cladogram:[29][30][31][32][33]
Carnivora Feliformia Aeluroidea Viverroidea Herpestoidea HyaenidaeHyaenidae (hyaenas) .jpg){kind=small}
Herpestidae (mongooses) .JPG){kind=small}
Eupleridae (Malagasy carnivorans) .png){kind=small}
Viverridae (viverrids) _white_background.jpg){kind=small}
Prionodontidae (Asiatic linsangs) 
Felidae (cats) .png){kind=small}
Nandiniidae (African palm civet) .png){kind=small}
†Nimravidae (false saber-toothed cats) 
†Amphicyonidae ("bear-dogs") 
Canidae (canids)
Ursidae (bears) .jpg){kind=small}
Procyonidae (raccoons) _(white_background).jpg){kind=small}
Ailuridae (red panda) 
Mephitidae (skunks) _(white_background).jpg){kind=small}
Mustelidae (mustelids) 
Otariidae
(eared seals)
.jpg){kind=small}
Odobenidae
(walruses)
.png){kind=small}
Phocidae
(earless seals)
_white_background.jpg){kind=small}
In 1758 the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus placed all carnivorans known at the time into the group Ferae (not to be confused with the modern concept of Ferae which also includes pangolins) in the tenth edition of his book Systema Naturae. He recognized six genera: Canis (canids and hyaenids), Phoca (pinnipeds), Felis (felids), Viverra (viverrids, herpestids, and mephitids), Mustela (non-badger mustelids), Ursus (ursids, large species of mustelids, and procyonids).[34] It wasn't until 1821 that the English writer and traveler Thomas Edward Bowdich gave the group its modern and accepted name.[3]
Initially the modern concept of Carnivora was divided into two suborders: the terrestrial Fissipedia and the marine Pinnipedia.[35] Below is the classification of how the extant families were related to each other after American paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson in 1945:[35]
Since then, however, the methods in which mammalogists use to assess the phylogenetic relationships among the carnivoran families has been improved with using more complicated and intensive incorporation of genetics, morphology and the fossil record. Research into Carnivora phylogeny since 1945 has found Fisspedia to be paraphyletic in respect to Pinnipedia,[36] with pinnipeds being either more closely related to bears or to weasels.[37][38][39][40][41] The small carnivoran families Viverridae,[42] Procyonidae, and Mustelidae have been found to be polyphyletic:
Below is a table chart of the extant carnivoran families and number of extant species recognized by various authors of the first and fourth volumes of Handbook of the Mammals of the World published in 2009[53] and 2014[54] respectively:
The canine teeth are usually large and conical. The canines are thick and stress resistant. All of the terrestrial species of carnivorans have three incisors on each side of each jaw (the exception is the sea otter (Enhydra lutris) which only has two lower incisor teeth).[55] The third molar has been lost. The carnassial pair is made up of the fourth upper premolar and the first lower molar teeth. Like most mammals, the dentition is heterodont, though in some species, such as the aardwolf (Proteles cristata), the teeth have been greatly reduced and the cheek teeth are specialised for eating insects. In pinnipeds, the teeth are homodont as they have evolved to grasp or catch fish, and the cheek teeth are often lost.[56] In bears and raccoons the carnassial pair is secondarily reduced.[56] The skulls are heavily built with a strong zygomatic arch. Often a sagittal crest is present, sometimes more evident in sexually dimorphic species such as sea lions and fur seals, though it has also been greatly reduced in some small carnivorans.[56] The braincase is enlarged with the frontoparietal bone at the front. In most species, the eyes are at the front of the face. In caniforms, the rostrum is usually long with many teeth, while in feliforms it is shorter with fewer teeth. The carnassial teeth of feliforms are generally more sectional than those of caniforms. The turbinates are large and complex in comparison to other mammals, providing a large surface area for olfactory receptors.[56]
Aside from an accumulation of characteristics in the dental and cranial features, not much of their overall anatomy unites carnivorans as a group.[55] All species of carnivorans are quadrupedal and most have five digits on the front feet and four digits on the back feet. In terrestrial carnivorans, the feet have soft pads. The feet can either be digitigrade as seen in cats, hyenas and dogs or plantigrade as seen in bears, skunks, raccoons, weasels, civets and mongooses. In pinnipeds, the limbs have been modified into flippers.
Unlike cetaceans and sirenians, which have fully functional tails to help them swim, pinnipeds use their limbs underwater to swim. Earless seals use their back flippers; sea lions and fur seals use their front flippers, and the walrus use all of their limbs. As a result, pinnipeds have significantly shorter tails than other carnivorans.
Aside from the pinnipeds, dogs, bears, hyenas, and cats all have distinct and recognizable appearances. Dogs are usually cursorial mammals and are gracile in appearance, often relying on their teeth to hold prey; bears are much larger and rely on their physical strength to forage for food. Compared to dogs and bears, cats have longer and stronger forelimbs armed with retractable claws to hold on to prey. Hyenas are dog-like feliforms that have sloping backs due to their front legs being longer than their hind legs. The raccoon family and red panda are small, bear-like carnivorans with long tails. The other small carnivoran families Nandiniidae, Prionodontidae, Viverridae, Herpestidae, Eupleridae, Mephitidae and Mustelidae have through convergent evolution maintained the small, ancestral appearance of the miacoids, though there is some variation seen such as the robust and stout physicality of badgers and the wolverine (Gulo gulo).[55] Male carnivorans usually have bacula, though they are absent in hyenas and binturongs.[57]
The length and density of the fur vary depending on the environment that the species inhabits. In warm climate species, the fur is often short in length and lighter. In cold climate species, the fur is either dense or long, often with an oily substance that helps to retain heat. The pelage coloration differs between species, often including black, white, orange, yellow, red, and many shades of grey and brown. Some are striped, spotted, blotched, banded, or otherwise boldly patterned. There seems to be a correlation between habitat and color pattern; for example spotted or banded species tend to be found in heavily forested environments.[55] Some species like the grey wolf are polymorphic with different individual having different coat colors. The arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) and the stoat (Mustela erminea) have fur that changes from white and dense in the winter to brown and sparse in the summer. In pinnipeds, polar bears, and sea otters a thick insulating layer of blubber helps maintain their body temperature.
Carnivorans are arguably the group of mammals of most interest to humans. The dog is noteworthy for not only being the first species of carnivoran to be domesticated, but also the first species of any taxon. In the last 10,000 to 12,000 years humans have selectively bred dogs for a variety of different tasks and today there are well over 400 breeds. The cat is another domesticated carnivoran and it is today considered one of the most successful species on the planet, due to their close proximity to humans and the popularity of cats as pets. Many other species are popular, and they are often charismatic megafauna. Many civilizations have incorporated a species of carnivoran into their culture such as the lion, viewed as royalty. Yet many species such as wolves and the big cats have been broadly hunted, resulting in extirpation in some areas. Habitat loss and human encroachment as well as climate change have been the primary cause of many species going into decline. Four species of carnivorans have gone extinct since the 1600s: Falkland Island wolf (Dusicyon australis) in 1876; the sea mink (Neogale macrodon) in 1894; the Japanese sea lion (Zalophus japonicus) in 1951 and the Caribbean monk seal (Neomonachus tropicalis) in 1952.[10] Some species such as the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and stoat (Mustela erminea) have been introduced to Australasia and have caused many native species to become endangered or even extinct.[58]
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{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Carnivora /kɑːrˈnɪvərə/ is an order of placental mammals that have specialized in primarily eating flesh, whose members are formally referred to as carnivorans. The order Carnivora is the fifth largest order of mammals, comprising at least 279 species.
Carnivorans live on every major landmass and in a variety of habitats, ranging from the cold polar regions to the hyper-arid region of the Sahara Desert to the open seas. They come in a very large array of different body plans in contrasting shapes and sizes.
Carnivora can be divided into two suborders: the cat-like Feliformia and the dog-like Caniformia, which are differentiated based on the structure of their ear bones and cranial features. The feliforms include families such as the cats, the hyenas, the mongooses and the civets. The majority of feliform species are found in the Old World, though the cats and one extinct genus of hyena have successfully diversified into the Americas. The caniforms include the dogs, bears, raccoons, weasels, and seals. Members of this group are found worldwide and with immense diversity in their diet, behavior, and morphology.
