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Order of mammals

Carnivora /k//ɑr/'/n//ɪ//v//ər//ə/ 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 with a wide diversity of shapes and sizes. Carnivora can be divided into two suborders, the Feliformia, containing the true felids and several "cat like" animals; and the Caniformia, containing the true canids and many somewhat "dog like" animals. The feliforms include families such as the felids or "cats" (both great cats and lesser cats), hyenas, mongooses and 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 canines, bears, raccoons, mustelids, skunks and pinnipeds. Members of this group are found worldwide with immense diversity in their diet, behavior and morphology.

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. 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. 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, 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, and this suggests a separate evolutionary history and an order level distinction. 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. Carnivoramorpha as a whole first appeared in the Paleocene of North America about 60 million years ago. Crown carnivorans first appeared around 42 million years ago in the Middle Eocene. Their molecular phylogeny shows the extant Carnivora are a monophyletic group, the crown group of the Carnivoramorpha. 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. 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. 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.

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). It was not until 1821 that the English writer and traveler Thomas Edward Bowdich gave the group its modern and accepted name. Initially, the modern concept of Carnivora was divided into two suborders: the terrestrial Fissipedia and the marine Pinnipedia. Below is the classification of how the extant families were related to each other after American paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson in 1945: with pinnipeds being either more closely related to bears or to weasels. The small carnivoran families Viverridae, Procyonidae, and Mustelidae have been found to be polyphyletic:
Mongooses and a handful of Malagasy endemic species are found to be in a clade with hyenas, with the Malagasy species being in their own family Eupleridae. The African palm civet is a basal cat like carnivoran. The linsang is more closely related to cats. Pandas are not procyonids nor are they a natural grouping. The giant panda is a true bear while the red panda is a distinct family. Skunks and stink badgers are placed in their own family, and are the sister group to a clade containing Ailuridae, Procyonidae and Mustelidae sensu stricto.) and fourth (2014) volumes of the Handbook of the Mammals of the World:
Carnivora Bowdich, 1821Feliformia Kretzoi, 1945Nandinioidea Pocock, 1929 Family English Name Distribution Number of Extant Species Type Taxon Image FigureNandiniidae Pocock, 1929African Palm CivetSub Saharan Africa1Nandinia binotata (J. E. Gray, 1830)Feloidea G. Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Family English Name Distribution Number of Extant Species Type Taxon Image FigureFelidae G. Fischer de Waldheim, 1817CatsAmericas, Africa, and Eurasia (introduced to Madagascar, Australasia and several islands)37Felis catus Linnaeus, 1758Prionodontidae Horsfield, 1822LinsangsIndomalayan realm2Prionodon linsang (Hardwicke, 1821)Viverroidea J. E. Gray, 1821 Family English Name Distribution Number of Extant Species Type Taxon Image FigureViverridae J. E. Gray, 1821Civets, genets, and oyansSouthern Europe, Indomalayan realm, and Africa (introduced to Madagascar)34Viverra zibetha Linnaeus, 1758Herpestoidea Bonaparte, 1845 Family English Name Distribution Number of Extant Species Type Taxon Image FigureHyaenidae J. E. Gray, 1821HyenasAfrica, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent4Hyaena hyaena (Linnaeus, 1758)Herpestidae Bonaparte, 1845MongoosesIberian Peninsula, Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indomalayan realm34Herpestes ichneumon (Linnaeus, 1758)Eupleridae Chenu, 1850Malagasy mongooses and civetsMadagascar8Eupleres goudotii Doyère, 1835Caniformia Kretzoi, 1945Canoidea G. Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Family English Name Distribution Number of Extant Species Type Taxon Image FigureCanidae G. Fischer de Waldheim, 1817DogsAmericas, Africa, and Eurasia (introduced to Madagascar, Australasia and several islands)35Canis familiaris Linnaeus, 1758Ursoidea G. Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Family English Name Distribution Number of Extant Species Type Taxon Image FigureUrsidae G. Fischer de Waldheim, 1817BearsAmericas and Eurasia8Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758Phocoidea J. E. Gray, 1821 Family English Name Distribution Number of Extant Species Type Taxon Image FigureOdobenidae J. A. Allen, 1880WalrusThe North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere1Odobenus rosmarus (Linnaeus, 1758)Otariidae J. E. Gray, 1825Eared SealsSubpolar, temperate, and equatorial waters throughout the Pacific and Southern Oceans and the southern Indian and Atlantic Oceans15Otaria flavescens (Linnaeus, 1758)Phocidae J. E. Gray, 1821Earless SealsThe sea and Lake Baikal18Phoca vitulina Linnaeus, 1758Musteloidea G. Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Family English Name Distribution Number of Extant Species Type Taxon Image FigureMephitidae Bonaparte, 1845Skunks and stink badgersAmericas, western Philippines, and Indonesia and Malaysia12Mephitis mephitis (Schreber, 1776)Ailuridae J. E. Gray, 1843Red PandaEastern Himalayas and southwestern China1Ailurus fulgens F. Cuvier, 1825Procyonidae J. E. Gray, 1825RaccoonsAmericas (introduced to Europe, the Caucasus, and Japan)12Procyon lotor (Linnaeus, 1758)Mustelidae G. Fischer de Waldheim, 1817Weasels, otters, and badgersAmericas, Africa, and Eurasia (introduced to Australasia and several islands)57Mustela erminea Linnaeus, 1758

The canine teeth are usually large, conical, 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). 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. 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). 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.