MUSTELID& 



577 



the latter. In spite of these differences the two are, however, so 

 nearly allied that they might almost be considered as local races of 

 a single widely spread species. 



The following account of the Indian species is extracted from 

 Dr. Jerdon's Mammals of India: "The Indian badger is found 

 throughout the whole of India, from the extreme south to the foot 

 of the Himalayas, chiefly in hilly districts, where it has greater 

 facilities for constructing the holes and dens in which it lives ; but 

 also in the north of India in alluvial plains, where the banks of 



Pig. 204.— The African Ratel (Mellivora ratel). 



large rivers afford equally suitable localities wherein to make its 

 lair. It is stated to live usually in pairs, and to eat rats, birds, 

 frogs, white ants, and various insects, and in the north of India it 

 is accused of digging out dead bodies, and is popularly known as 

 the grave-digger. It doubtless also, like its Cape congener, 

 occasionally partakes of honey. It is often very destructive to 

 poultry, and I have known of several having been trapped and 

 killed whilst committing such depredations in Central India and in 

 the northern Circars. In confinement the Indian badger is quiet 

 and will partake of vegetable food, fruits, rice, etc." 



A fossil species of Mellivora, apparently closely allied to the 

 existing forms, occurs in the Pliocene Siwaliks of India. The same 

 deposits have also yielded remains of an extinct genus described as 

 Mellivorodnn. 



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