540 



CARNIVORA 



Fig. 244. 



-Skull and Dentition of the Aard-Wolf (Proteles cristatus). 

 1 natural size. 



the Aard-Wolf or Earth- Wolf of the Dutch colonists of the Cape, an 

 animal nearly allied to the Hyaenas, but remarkably modified in its 

 dentition, the molar teeth being very small, placed far apart, and 



almost rudi- 

 mentary in char- 

 acter (Fig. 244). 

 The canines are 

 long and rather 

 slender. The 

 dental formula is 



* f j c i > 1 } an d m 

 g-^r 4 ; total 30 or 



32. Vertebra? : 

 C 7, D 15, L 5, 



S 2, C 24. The 

 fore feet with 



five toes ; the pollex though short, with a distinct claw. The 

 hind feet with four subequal toes. Claws all strong, blunt, sub- 

 compressed, and non-retractile. The general external appearance is 

 very like that of a small Striped Hyaena, but the muzzle is more 

 pointed and the ears larger. It has a copious mane of long hair, 

 capable of being erected when the animal is excited, along the 

 middle line of the neck and back. It is a native of South Africa, 

 and is a burrowing nocturnal animal, feeding on decomposing 

 animal substances, larva?, and termites. Observations upon speci- 

 mens in captivity indicate that it has neither inclination nor power 

 to attack or feed upon living vertebrated animals. 



Some writers regard Prokles as representing a subfamily of the 

 Hycenidce. 1 



Family Hy^nid^:. 



Skull with no alisphenoid canal ; and the auditory bulla not 

 divided by a septum into two chambers. Dorsal vertebra? 15. 

 Molars usually \, but in some fossil forms ^, or f , the second lower 

 molar being very small ; upper carnassial with three distinct 

 lobes; lower carnassial with a large blade and small talon. No 

 entepicondylar foramen to the humerus. This family is confined 

 to the Old World, where it is now represented by a single genus, 

 which, although evidently nearly related to the Viverridce, is 

 sufficiently distinct to be regarded as not referable to that family. 

 The extinct Ictitherium, however, as already mentioned, connects the 

 more generalised members of the Hycenidce very closely with the 

 Viverridce. 



Hycena. 2 — Dentition in existing forms usually i § , c \, p i, m 



1 For Anatomy of Protcles see Flower, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1869, p. 474. 

 2 Zimmermann, Specimen Zoologicc Gcographicce, p. 365 (1777). 



