SPECIES OF MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC AREA 91 



are absent. The tail has alternate rings of dark and light brown. 



The palm civets are chiefly vegetarian. They feed on fruit 

 but also eat small mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects. They 

 are frequently found about villages and spend much of their 

 time in trees. 



The Masked Palm Civet (Paguma larvata) is distinguished 

 from the true palm civet by the absence of body pattern and 



r 



Fig. 40 — Masked Palm Civet 



by skull characters. It is found from Tibet, China, and For- 

 mosa south through the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra and Bor- 

 neo. It is about the size and build of a palm civet. The Su- 

 matran and Bornean subspecies of masked palm civet is brown- 

 ish buif, the neck and shoulders much darker, even black, the 

 hind back and rump paler. The lower legs and feet are black 

 and the tail darker toward the tip. Buffy white cheek patches 

 extend from behind the ears to the forehead. The habits of 

 this animal are similar to those of the palm civets. 



The Binturong or Bear Cat (Arctictis hinturong) is larger 

 than the palm civets. The head and body attain about fifty-four 

 inches in length, the tail a little less than half that amount. Its 

 color is black or blackish brown but many of the hairs are tipped 

 with a buffy or whitish color, which gives the coat a speckled 



