Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction to Carnivora
- 2 Phylogeny of the Carnivora and Carnivoramorpha, and the use of the fossil record to enhance understanding of evolutionary transformations
- 3 Phylogeny of the Viverridae and ‘Viverrid-like’ feliforms
- 4 Molecular and morphological evidence for Ailuridae and a review of its genera
- 5 The influence of character correlations on phylogenetic analyses: a case study of the carnivoran cranium
- 6 What's the difference? A multiphasic allometric analysis of fossil and living lions
- 7 Evolution in Carnivora: identifying a morphological bias
- 8 The biogeography of carnivore ecomorphology
- 9 Comparative ecomorphology and biogeography of Herpestidae and Viverridae (Carnivora) in Africa and Asia
- 10 Ecomorphological analysis of carnivore guilds in the Eocene through Miocene of Laurasia
- 11 Ecomorphology of North American Eocene carnivores: evidence for competition between Carnivorans and Creodonts
- 12 Morphometric analysis of cranial morphology in pinnipeds (Mammalia, Carnivora): convergence, ecology, ontogeny, and dimorphism
- 13 Tiptoeing through the trophics: geographic variation in carnivoran locomotor ecomorphology in relation to environment
- 14 Interpreting sabretooth cat (Carnivora; Felidae; Machairodontinae) postcranial morphology in light of scaling patterns in felids
- 15 Cranial mechanics of mammalian carnivores: recent advances using a finite element approach
- Index
- Plates
- References
1 - Introduction to Carnivora
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2014
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction to Carnivora
- 2 Phylogeny of the Carnivora and Carnivoramorpha, and the use of the fossil record to enhance understanding of evolutionary transformations
- 3 Phylogeny of the Viverridae and ‘Viverrid-like’ feliforms
- 4 Molecular and morphological evidence for Ailuridae and a review of its genera
- 5 The influence of character correlations on phylogenetic analyses: a case study of the carnivoran cranium
- 6 What's the difference? A multiphasic allometric analysis of fossil and living lions
- 7 Evolution in Carnivora: identifying a morphological bias
- 8 The biogeography of carnivore ecomorphology
- 9 Comparative ecomorphology and biogeography of Herpestidae and Viverridae (Carnivora) in Africa and Asia
- 10 Ecomorphological analysis of carnivore guilds in the Eocene through Miocene of Laurasia
- 11 Ecomorphology of North American Eocene carnivores: evidence for competition between Carnivorans and Creodonts
- 12 Morphometric analysis of cranial morphology in pinnipeds (Mammalia, Carnivora): convergence, ecology, ontogeny, and dimorphism
- 13 Tiptoeing through the trophics: geographic variation in carnivoran locomotor ecomorphology in relation to environment
- 14 Interpreting sabretooth cat (Carnivora; Felidae; Machairodontinae) postcranial morphology in light of scaling patterns in felids
- 15 Cranial mechanics of mammalian carnivores: recent advances using a finite element approach
- Index
- Plates
- References
Summary
Why Carnivora?
The placental mammal order Carnivora encompasses many charismatic taxa, from dogs and cats to bears, otters, hyaenas, and seals. Perhaps more than any other mammalian clade, carnivorans are a source of fascination for humans, partially due to our intimate observation of the domesticated species that reside in many of our own homes. Beyond our quirky cats and loyal dogs, however, carnivorans have long and often been the subject of a variety of studies and documentaries of natural history concerning behaviour, ecology, and evolution, and for many good reasons. With over 260 living species, Carnivora is one of the most species-rich clades of mammals. It should be noted that the term ‘carnivoran’ is a phylogenetic classification, in contrast to ‘carnivore’, an ecological classification describing any meat-eater.
Evolutionarily, Carnivora is divided into two major branches (Flynn et al., this volume, Chapter 2, Figure 2.2): Feliformia (including cats, linsangs, civets, mongooses, fossas, falanoucs, and hyaenas; Figure 1.1) and Caniformia (encompassing dogs, bears, seals, sea lions, walruses, the red panda, raccoons, skunks, weasels, badgers, otters, and wolverines; Figure 1.2) (Wozencraft, 2005; Myers et al., 2008). As that list suggests, this taxonomic diversity is well matched by their ecological breadth. While the name Carnivora usually conjures up images of tigers and wolves, carnivorans range in diet from pure carnivores to species that specialise on fruit, leaves, and insects, as well as the full spectrum of mixed diets; carnivorans are represented by omnivorous bears, frugivorous raccoons, and even insectivorous hyaenas. Even better for students of evolution, many carnivoran families have given rise to multiple dif ferent ecomorphs.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Carnivoran EvolutionNew Views on Phylogeny, Form and Function, pp. 1 - 24Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
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