CIVETS AND GENETS 



403 



Fam. 3. Viverridae. The Civets, Genets, and their kind 

 differ from the Cats in a number of points. They form, however, 

 by no means so uniform an assemblage as do the Cats ; so that the 

 difficulty is, as Dr. Mivart has remarked, not to divide them into 

 sub-families, but to avoid making too many. But before pro- 

 ceeding to subdivide the family we shall describe the characters 

 of the family and contrast them with those of the Felidae. 



All the Yiverridae are comparatively small creatures. The 

 head and body are more elongate than in the Cats. The fingers and 

 toes are generally five ; but there are some (e.g. Cynictis) where 

 the formula of the toes is as in the Cats, i.e. four on the hind-foot. 

 In the Suricate the fingers are also reduced to four. The claws are 

 perhaps never completely retractile, 1 and often are not at all so. 

 The dental formulae of the genera differ considerably ; but in the 

 majority there are more teeth than in the Felidae. The well- 

 known sharp-pointed, conical papillae of the Cat's tongue are not 

 present. The majority have a scent gland beneath the tail, from 

 which the perfume civet is derived. There are a number of 

 osteological characters which differentiate the two families ; thus 

 the alisphenoid canal is sometimes present. The bulla is divided, 

 as in the Cats, but is externally constricted. 



It seems clear from some at any rate of the characters, i.e. the 

 more complete dentition, the five-fingered hands and feet, the 

 non-retractile claws, etc., that the Civets are on a lower level of 

 specialisation than are the Cats. 



Sub-Fam. 1. Euplerinae. The genus Eupleres is in many 

 ways the most aberrant type of Viverrid, and is placed in a 

 sub-family, Euplerinae. Its salient feature is the very peculiar 

 dentition : peculiar in the small size of the canines, the canine-like 

 character of the anterior premolars, and the resemblance of the pre- 

 molars to molars. In some of the characters of the teeth, Eupleres 

 is Insectivore-like, and was formerly grouped with that family. 

 There are four premolars and two molars in each jaw on each 

 side. It has five toes upon both fore- and hind-limbs; the skull 

 is very slender. It has no alisphenoid canal. The only species, 

 E. goudotii, is of an olive-grey colour, with dark bands across the 

 shoulders in the young. The nose and upper lip are grooved. 

 There are no scent glands. It appears to burrow in the ground, 

 and possibly contents itself with a diet of worms. Eupleres is a 



1 The retractility is most marked in the Linsangs. 



