page_title: Carnivora
section_title: Craniodental region
hierarchical_section_title: Carnivora / Anatomy and physiology / Craniodental region
caption_attribution_description: Magyar: Fossza (Cryptoprocta ferox) koponya az angliai Cambridge University Museum of Zoology-ban. English: Fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) skull at the Cambridge University Museum of Zoology, England.
context_page_description: Carnivora is an order of placental mammals that have specialized in primarily eating flesh. Its members are formally referred to as carnivorans, though some species are omnivorous, like raccoons and bears, and quite a few species like pandas are specialized herbivores. The word 'carnivore' is derived from Latin carō "flesh" and vorāre "to devour", it refers to any meat-eating organism. The order Carnivora is the fifth largest order of mammals and one of the more successful members of the group; it comprises at least 279 species living on every major landmass and in a variety of habitats, ranging the cold polar regions to the hyper-arid region of the Sahara Desert to the open seas. They come in a huge array of different body plans in contrasting shapes and sizes. The smallest carnivoran is the least weasel with a body length of about 11 cm and a weight of about 25 g. The largest is the southern elephant seal, with adult males weighing up to 5,000 kg and measuring up to 6.7 m. All species of carnivorans are descended from a group of mammals which were related to today's pangolins, having appeared in North America 6 million years after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.
context_section_description: The canine teeth are usually large and conical. The canines are thick and incredibly stress resistant. All of the terrestrial species of carnivorans have three incisors on the top and bottom row of the dentition (the exception being is the sea otter (Enhydra lutris) which only has two lower incisor teeth). The third molar has been lost. The carnassial pair is made up by the fourth upper premolar and the first lower molar teeth. Like most mammals the dentition is heterodont in nature, though in some species like 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 to catch fish, and the cheek teeth are often lost. In bears and raccoons the carnassial pair is secondarily reduced. The skulls are heavily built with a strong zygomatic arch. Often a sagittal crest is present, sometimes more evident in sexual dimorphic species like sea lions and fur seals, though it has also been greatly reduced seen in some small carnivorans. The braincase is enlarged and the frontoparietal is position at the front of it. In most species the eyes are position at the front of the face. In caniforms the rostrum is usually longer with many teeth, where in comparison with felifoms the rostrum is shorter and have fewer teeth. The carnassial teeth in feliforms, however is more sectional. The turbinates are large and complex in comparison to other mammals, providing a large surface area for olfactory receptors.
caption: Skull of a fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox). Note the large and conical canine and carnassial teeth common in feliforms.
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