448 



CARNIVORA 



retractile claws, those of hind foot slightly the larger ; sole, palm, 

 and under surface of digits velvety-furred except on balls of toes 

 and surface of tubercles ; palm with large, cordate, obscurely 

 3-lobed tubercular mass at base of longer digits, a small roundish 

 pad at base of thumb, and two semi-confluent, elongate pads, the 

 outer nearly twice as large as inner, at posterior margin of palm ; 

 sole with similar trilobed mass at base of longer digits, an 

 elongate pad at base of hallux, and a linear-elongate pad on outer 

 side of sole, partly divided into two by longitudinal furrow, and 

 extending from level of base of hallux more than half way to 

 heel. Fur not peculiar in quality, the underfur dense, its hairs 

 about 25 mm. in length on back, the longer hairs soft, exceeding 

 the underfur by about 5 to 10 mm.; hairs on tail somewhat 

 longer than those of body, about 50 mm. at middle, rather more 

 at base and less at tip. Mammae : a 2-2 = 4. 



Colour. — Ground colour throughout a light grey, with or 

 without an evident bufly or brownish tinge, the slaty bases of 

 the hairs sometimes appearing at surface, particulai'ly on under- 

 parts. Back and sides thickly spotted with black, the spots 

 always confluent along median line, where they form a narrow 

 stripe extending from shoulders to base of tail, those on sides 

 arranged in four or five longitudinal rows, of which the two 

 uppermost on each side usually show some tendency to run 

 together into stripes, while the lower ones are more widely 

 spaced ; when not crowded the spots are sharply and evenly 

 outlined, roundish or somewhat longer than broad, the diameter 

 of largest about 30 mm. Neck with narrow well-defined lateral 

 black stripe and one or two less sharply marked median stripes. 

 Base of ear black, the terminal half grey. Cheek and face grey, 

 with ill-defined median dark streak and faint supraorbital shade ; 

 muzzle with conspicuous blackish area at base of whiskers and 

 extending back to eye, the extreme anterior region at side of 

 pad and beneath it sharply contrasted light grey. Feet grey 

 above with a few small black spots, the under surface blackish 

 except for lighter region between pads ; black of hind foot 

 extending upward to cover much of inner surface of thigh. Tail 

 ringed with black and light grey, the extreme base light, the tip 

 either light or dark, the rings about equally wide throughout, 

 their number 8 to 1 of each colour ; black rings tending to run 

 together along median line above on basal third of tail. 



Skull. — The skull is not unlike that of Hcrpestes widdriugtonii 

 in general form, though much less robust, not unusually 

 deepened, the orbit large, widely open posteriorly, its %ertical 

 diameter greater than depth of rostrum at canine, the auditory 

 bullse not much inflated ; mastoid breadth about equal to 

 occipital depth including bullae ; depth of rostrum at front of 

 orbit considerably less than distance from orbit to tip of 

 premaxillary ; postorbital processes short, not produced down- 

 ward, no orbital process of zygoma, the large orbit thus opening 



