134 MELINIDJi. 



very considerably. In Mephitis and Conepatus it is short and 

 broad ; in Mepliitis the inner lobe has a conical tubercle, and iu 

 Conepatus it has a long, marginal, semilunar one. In ZoriJla the 

 flesh-tooth is elongate, slender, much longer than broad, and it has 

 a conical tubercle on its subcentral small inner lobe. The tubercular 

 grinder in the fii'st two genera is broad, massive, and square ; iu 

 Zorilla it is oblong and transverse. 



6. CONEPATUS. 



Head conical ; nose produced, hairy, and vpithout any central 

 groove beneath ; muzzle produced, bald above, obliquely truncated 

 beneath ; nostrils inferior ; ears orbicular, scarcely visible. The 

 hind feet large, broad ; the soles naked, half the length of the foot, 

 oblong, broad, rugose and warty, rounded behind, divided into two 

 convex parts by a cross groove, scarcely subdivided into smaller 

 pads ; front claws very long. Tail short, bushy, subcylindrical. 

 Teeth as in Mepliitis. Teeth 32 ; false grinders f . f ; but flesh- 

 tooth with long, marginal, semilunar tubercle. 



Conepatus, Gray, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837 ; P. Z. S. I860, p. 145. 



Marpatius, Gray, 3Iag. Nat. Hist. 1837, i. 



Thiosmus, Licht. Ahhand. Akad. Berl. fiir 1836, p. 214, published 



1838. 

 Lycodon, D'Orhigny. 

 Ozolictus, Gloyer, 1842. 



It has been supposed that Lichtenstein has the priority for the 

 subgenus Thiosmus, because the paper ajjpears nominally in the 

 ' Transactions ' for 1836, and my paper in the ' Mag. Nat. Hist.' 

 1837 ; but there cannot be a doubt that my paper was anterior, for 

 Lichtenstein quotes it throughout. 



Conepatus nasutus. B.M. 



Black, with one or two white dorsal streaks. Tail short, bushy, 

 white or white-and-black varied. 



Conepatus nasutus, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 145. 



Yar. 1. nasuta. Black, with a very broad white dorsal streak; 

 from forehead to taU white. B.M. 



Mephitis nasuta, Bennett, P. Z. S. 1833, p. 39 ; Gray, May. N. H. 



1837, i. ; Fraser, Zool. Typica, i. 

 Mephitis mesoleuca, Licht. Ah. Akad. Berl. 1838, p. 271; Darstell. 



t. 44. f. 2. 

 Thiosmus mesoleuca, Less. 

 Marputius nasuta. Gray, Mag. N. H. 1837, i. 

 Viverra putorius, Mutis, Act. Holm. 1769, p. 68. 

 Viverra marputio, Gmelin, S. N. 



Mephitis (Thiosmus) marputio, Licht. Abh. Ak. Berl. 1836, p. 270. 

 Mephitis (Thiosmus) leuconota, Licht. Abh. Akad. Berl. 1836, p. 270 



(1838). 

 Mephitis intermedia, Satissure, Rev. Zool. 1860, p. 6. 

 Mephitis mesoleuca ?, Tomes, P. Z. S. 1861, p. 280. 



