Carnivora is a term applicable to any creatures that feed on flesh or animal substances, but is now applied specially to an order of mammals which prey upon other animals. The head is small, the jaws powerful, and the skin is well covered with hair. Two sets of teeth, deciduous or milk and permanent, are always developed in succession, and in both sets incisors, canines, and molars are distinguishable. The stomach is simple and the alimentarycanal short, thus making the body as light and slender as possible for the purpose of hunting and springing on its prey.
The muscular activity of the Carnivora is very great, their respiration and circulation very active, and their demand for food is consequently constant. Carnivora are often divided into Plantigrada, comprising the bears, badgers, raccoons, etc; Digitigrada, comprising lions, tigers, cats, dogs; and Pinnipedia or Pinnigrada, comprising the seals and walruses. The two former divisions are also classed together as Fissipedia. The typical Plantigrada are distinguished by their putting the whole sole of the foot to the ground in walking, while the Digitigrada walk on the tips of their toes. The Plantigrada are also less decidedly carnivorous, and feed much on roots, honey, and fruits. In the Pinnigrada the body is long and of a fish shape, the fore and hind limbs are short and form broad webbed swimming-paddles. The hind-feet are placed far back, and more or less tied down. to the tail by the integuments. Research Carnivora
Cetacea is an order of marine animals, surpassing in size all others in existence. They are true mammals, since they suckle their young, have warm blood, and respire by means of lungs, for which purpose they come to the surface of the water to take in fresh supplies of air.
The body is fish-like in form, but ends in a bilobate tail, which is placed horizontally, not, as in the fishes, vertically. The posterior limbs are wanting - though not unfrequently stumps are present in individuals - and the anterior are converted into broad paddles or flippers, consisting of a continuous sheath of the thick integument, within which are present representatives of all the bones usually found in the fore-limb of mammals. The fish-like aspect is further increased by the presence of a dorsal fin, but this is a simple fold of integument, and does not contain bony spines.
The right whale and its allies have no teeth in the adult state, their place being taken by the triangular plates of baleen or whalebone which are developed on transverse ridges of the palate, but the foetal whales possess minute teeth, which are very soon lost. The nostrils open directly upwards on the top of the head, and are closed by valvular folds of integument which are under the control of the animal. When it comes to the surface to breathe it expels the air violently (popularly known as 'blowing' or 'spouting'), and the vapour it contains becomes condensed into a cloud, which resembles a column of water and spray. The blood-vessels in these animals break up into extensive plexuses or net-works, in which a large amount of oxygenated blood is delayed, and they are thus enabled to remain a considerable time under water. Injury to these dilated vessels leads to profuse hemorrhage, and hence the whale is killed by the comparatively trifling wound of the harpoon.
The Cetacea (which are grouped broadly as Mysticeti or toothless whales; and Odontoceti, Denticeti, or toothed whales) are commonly divided into five families: (1) Balaenidce, or whalebone whales, divided into two sections: smooth whales, with smooth skin and no dorsal fin, and furrowed whales, with furrowed skin and a dorsal fin; (2) Physeteridae, Catodontidae, sperm-whales or cachalots, the palates of which have no baleen-plates, and which are furnished with teeth, developed in the lower jaw only; (3) Delphinidae, a family possessing teeth in both jaws, and including the dolphins, porpoises, and narwhal; (4) Rhynchoceti, a family allied to the sperm-whales, but having only a pair or two pairs of teeth in the lower jaw, a pointed snout or beak, a single blow-hole, etc; (5) Zeuglodontidae, an extinct family, distinguished from all the tooth-bearing whales by the possession of molar teeth implanted by two distinct fangs, etc. The last family is exclusively confined to the Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene periods. The Sirenia, or manatees and dugongs, have sometimes been classified among the Cetacea, but they must be regarded as forming a separate order. Research Cetacea
Dytiscidae is the predacious divingbeetle family of insects of the order Coleoptera, with over 100 species found in Britain. They have modified hind- legs adapted for use as paddles and covered with long hairs and a streamlined body. They are excellent at flying and can move to new water as required. They carry air beneath the elytra, and use this to breathe while diving under the surface. Both the adults and larvae are strictly predacious. Research Dytiscidae
The razorbill (Alca torda) is a North Atlantic sea bird of the auk family, Alcidae, which breeds on cliffs and migrates south in winter. It has a curved beak and is black above and white below. It uses its wings as paddles when diving. Razorbills are common off Newfoundland. Research Razorbill
The Sphenisciformes are an order of birds. These are the penguins. They comprise a single family, Spheniscidae. They are water birds with a streamlined body and elongated head. The beak is stout and ends in a sharp point. They are incapable of flight, instead their wings have adapted as short powerful paddles. Research Sphenisciformes
In Guarani mythology, Tupan was the son of the sky-goddess. When a flood swamped the universe he escaped by climbing a tree. Every day thereafter, he set out in his canoe to visit his mother, and the splashing of his paddles was heard by humans as thunder. Research Tupan
The Great Eastern was a British steamship built in 1858 at Millwall from the designs of Isambard Brunel. She was the largest steamship built to that date, was 692 feet long and had a displacement of 18,915 tons. She had six masts, five of iron and one of wood, and could spread 7000 yards of sail, besides having eight engines, divided between her screws and paddles, and capable of working at 11,000 horse-power. From the start her career was unfortunate, the launching process alone lasting three months and costing 60,000 pounds. After several unremunerative trips to New York she was employed first as a troopship, and then as a cable-laying ship for which her size and steadiness specially qualified her and and she lay the first Atlantic Cable and the Bombay-Suez cable. Various attempts were afterwards made to utilize her, but she at last came to be a mere holiday spectacle, and was broken up in 1888. Research Great Eastern
Abbreviations
Research Carnivora
