512 MEPHITIS. CONEPATUS. 



Genl. Char. Tail slender, longer than head and body; nape with 

 a hood of spreading elongated hairs. 



Color. Black with a white stripe low down on the sides from the 

 ear to the tail ; head with a narrow white stripe above ; tail externally 

 black above and all around subterminally ; under side all white, 

 except the terminal black ring; tuft at tip white; feet and under 

 parts black. 



Measurements. Total length, 790; tail vertebrae, 435; hind foot, 

 73. Skull: total length, 60.3; Hensel, 58.4; zygomatic width, 43.9; 

 mastoid breadth, 36; across postorbital processes, 22.3; interorbital 

 constriction, 19.4; palatal length, 24.1; postpalatal length, 34.2. 



b. vittata (Mephitis}, Licht., Darst. Saugeth. 1834, p. 34, pi. XLVII. 



concolor Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1865, p. 149. 

 BRIDLED SKUNK. Zorillo in Guatemala. 



Type locality. San Mateo del Mar, State of Oaxaca, Mexico. 



Geogr. Distr. State of Oaxaca, Mexico; range unknown. 



Genl. Char. ' ' Narrow line from nose to vertex ; one or two streaks 

 on each side along the occiput ; a solitary stripe on each side from the 

 paratoid region to the base of the tail." Smaller than M. macrura; 

 mastoids and sagittal crest only slightly developed. 



Color. Same as M. macrura, but pencil of tail not clearly indi- 

 cated; black phase existing and not uncommon. 



Measurements. Total length, 610; tail vertebras, 280. Skull: 

 total length, 52.3; Hensel, 50.5; zygomatic breadth, 38.3; mastoid 

 breadth, 31.8; across postorbital processes, 20.6; palatal length, 21.2; 

 postpalatal length, 29.3. 



The species of the next genus are among the largest of the skunks, 

 indeed some individuals probably exceed all other skunks in size. 

 In structure they differ from species of the genus Mephitis in being 

 heavier in body, with an elongate snout more like that of a pig. The 

 fur is coarse and harsh, and the entire back is often pure white, the 

 dorsal stripes having united, but in others again the color of the 

 upper parts resemble that of the true skunks. 



98. Coiiepatus. White-backed Skunks. 



Conepatus Gray, Charlesw. Mag. Nat. Hist., 1837, p. 581. Type 



Coiiepatus humboldti Gray. 

 Ictonyx (sic} Kaup. Thierr., i, 1835, p. 352. 



