Dogs, Jackals, Wolves, and Foxes

Abstract

THE group which Prof. Mivart has selected for a handsome, and, as far as materials are available, fairly exhaustive monograph, is one which has the advantage of being, in the present condition of the world's fauna, of strictly definite limits. On the other hand, the very numerous minor variations which occur within these limits give rise to many problems difficult of solution. While there is no difficulty in deciding what animals should be admitted into the Canidæ, the questions as to how many distinct specific modifications of the family should be accepted and what their relations are to one another are as difficult to answer in this case as in almost any other in zoology. It may indeed be doubted whether there will ever be any general accord upon such subjects in respect to any group of modern origin, and in which variation and differentiation are still rife. It is only in the ancient groups where extinction has played havoc among the members, and long-continued isolation has stereotyped certain definite forms that we can meet with species which will be universally recognized as such. In such a group as the Canidæ, therefore, opinions are sure to differ as to the number and limits of the species, and these opinions will be continually liable to modification in accordance with the amount of material upon which they are based.

Dogs, Jackals, Wolves, and Foxes: A Monograph of the Canidæ.

By St. George Mivart With Woodcuts, and 45 Coloured Plates drawn from Nature by J. G. Keulemans. (London: R. H. Porter, and Dulau and Co., 1890.)