538 



CARNIVORA 



obscurus, the Kusimanse, a small burrowing animal from West 

 Africa, of uniform dark brown colour ; C. fasciatus ; C. zebra ; and 

 C. gambianus. 



Saricata. 1 — A more distinct genus than any of the above. The 

 dental formula as in the last, but the teeth of the cheek-series 

 remarkably short in the antero-posterior direction, corresponding 

 with the shortness of the skull generally (Fig. 222). Orbits 

 complete behind. Vertebra? : C 7, D 15, L 6, S 3, C 20. Though 

 the head is short and broad, the nose is pointed and rather 

 produced and movable. Ears very short. Body shorter and 

 limbs longer than in Herpestes. Toes 4-4, the pollex and hallux 

 being absent. Claws on fore feet very long and narrow, arched, 

 pointed, and subequal. Hind feet with much shorter claws, soles 

 hairy. Tail rather shorter than the body. One species only is 

 known, the Suricate, 8. tetradactyla, a small gray-brown animal, 

 with dark transverse stripes on the hinder part of the back, from 

 South Africa. The caecum is short. 



Galidictis, 2 Galidea, z and Hemigalidea 4 are names of three slight 



generic modifications of the Viverrine type, 

 allied to the Herpestina', but placed by 

 Mivart in a distinct subfamily, Galidictiinai. 

 They are all characterised by the absence 

 of the alisphenoid canal in the skull, as 

 well as of the entepicondylar foramen to 

 the humerus ; and are inhabitants of Mada- 

 gascar. The best known, Galidea elegans, 

 is a lively Squirrel-like little animal with 

 soft fur and a long bushy tail, which climbs 

 and jumps with agility. It is of a chestnut- 

 brown colour, the tail being annulated with 

 darker brown. The caecum (Fig. 242) is 

 remarkable for its comparative length and 

 pointed termination. Hemigalidea is dis- 

 tinguished by the absence of rings on the 

 tail. Galidictis vittata and striata chiefly 

 differ from the Ichneumons in their colora- 

 tion, being gray with parallel longitudinal 

 stripes of dark brown. 



Eapleres 5 is another form, also from Madagascar, which has 

 been placed in a subfamily apart. It differs remarkably from all 

 the other Viverridce in the weak development of the jaws and the 



Fig. 242. — Cfecum of Galidea 

 ekgans. (From Mivart, Proc. 

 Zool. Hoc. 1882, p. 50S.) 



1 Desmarest, 



(1804). 



" Tabl. Meth. Mamm." in Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. vol. xxiv. 

 2 Geoffroy, Comptcs Ecndus, 1837, p. 578. 



3 GeofFroy, Mag. de Zool. 1839, pp. 27, 37. 



4 Doyere, Ann. Sci. Nat. vol. iv. p. 281 (1835). 



5 Jourdan, Comptes Rendus, 1837, p. 422. Amended. 



