528 



CARXIVORA 



that its right to generic distinction seems doubtful. There is, 

 however, no scent-pouch. The limbs are slender; and there are 

 two small bare spots on the sole of the hind foot, above the 

 plantar pads. There is no dark line along the back ; the throat 

 gorget of Viverra is absent ; and in the tail the spots only tend to 

 form rings, which are not complete. The skull has an alisphenoid 

 canal, and a large bulla as in the typical group of Viverra. 



Genet/a. 1 — The Genettes are smaller animals, with more elon- 

 gated and slender bodies, and shorter limbs than the Civets. Skull 

 elongated and narrow. Auditory bulla large, elongated, rounded 







Fir:. 233. — The Common Genet (Genetta vulgaris). 



at both ends. Teeth compressed and sharp pointed. The inner 

 side of the third upper premolar has a tubercle not present in the 

 previous genus, and the talon of the lower carnassial is larger. 

 Pupil contracting to a linear aperture. Tail long, slender. Fur short 

 and soft, spotted or cloudy. Under side of the tarso-metatarsus 

 with a narrow longitudinal bald streak. No pouch for storing the 

 secretion of the scent-gland. G. vulgaris, the common Genet 

 (Fig. 233), is found in France south of the river Loire, Spain, 

 South -Western Asia, and Africa from Barbary to the Cape. 

 G. felitHf, senegalensis, tigrina, and partialis are other named sj^ecies, 

 all African in habitat. 



A few details (taken from Professor Mivart's memoirs on the 



1 Cuvier, Regne-Animal, vol. i. p. 156 (1817). 



