46-2 



HERPESTES. 



FIG. 85. HERPESTES MUNGO. 



No. 110941 U. S. Nat. Mus. Coll. Nat. size. 



species; legs short; five toes on each foot, the first one short; claws 

 lengthened, not retractile; palms usually naked. Skull with short 

 face and elongated braincase, postorbital constriction great; palate 

 extending beyond posterior molars ; pterygoids short ; pterygoid fossa 

 wanting. 



464. mungo (Viverra), Gmel., Syst. Nat., i, 1788, p. 84. 

 COMMON INDIAN MUNGOOSE. 



Type locality. India. Introduced into the Islands of Jamaica, 

 Porto Rico, St. Kitts, etc. 



Genl. Char. Hair long, ragged; tail hairy, shorter than head and 

 body; tarsus naked to heel; palate extending midway between last 

 molars and posterior end of pterygoids, which are parallel. 



Color. Grayish brown, speckled with white or light gray, some- 

 times tinged with ferrugineous ; hairs with dark brown and grayish 

 white rings alternating. 



