DESCRIPTION OF MUSTELA PENNANTI. 63 



Specific CHARACTERS. — Black or blackish, lif^litening Ijy mixture of brown 

 or gray on the upper fore part and head; no conspicuous light throat- 

 patch; generally darker below than above; very large and stout; length 

 2 or 3 feet ; tail over a foot long. 



Description of external characters* 



Form. — With its large size, this auimal combines a stout- 

 ness of form not seen in other species of the genus. The 

 genera] aspect is rather that of a Fox than of a Weasel, but, in 

 place of the acute muzzle and pointed ears of the former, we 

 have a fuller face, somewhat canine in physiognomy.! The 

 muzzle is thick and short ; the prominent nasal pad has the 

 ordinary T-shape, and is definitely naked ; it is black. The 

 whiskers are stiff, scant, and short, hardly reaching to the ears ; 

 there are other stoutish bristles over the eye, at the corner of 

 the mouth, on the cheeks and chin ; they are all black. The 

 eye is rather large and full for this group. The ears are low, 

 but remarkably broad, being about twice as wide at base as 

 high ; they are rounded in contour, and well furred, both sides, 

 to the entrance of the meatus. The feet are broad and flat, 

 furred both sides, and armed with very stout, compressed, 

 much curved, acute claws, not hidden by the bristles at their 

 base; they are light-colored. On the palm may usually be 

 seen the following pads (though they are sometimes hidden by 

 the overgrowing fur): one at the end of each digit ; a V-shaped 

 area of four nearly coalesced pads, indicated by mere sulci be- 

 tween them, situated opposite the first digit, and indicating the 

 bases of, respectively, the first, the second, the third and fourth 

 combined, and the fifth digit. There is a tenth pad, isolated 

 from the rest, far back, on the wrist, near the outer border. 

 On the hind feet, the arrangement of the naked bulbs is essen- 

 tially the same, excepting that the hindermost (tenth) one is 

 wanting. The tail-vertebrae are about half as long as the head 



*Frora various specimens in the Smithsonian Institution. 



+"The physiognomy of the Pekan is very different from that of the Marten. 

 When the latter is threatened, its features resemble those of an enraged cat, 

 but the expression of the Pekan's countenance approaches to that of a dog, 

 though the apparent obliquity of its eyes gives it a sinister look. The head 

 has a strong, roundish, compact appearance, and contracts suddenly to form 

 the nose, which terminates rather acutely. The ears, low and semicircular, 

 are far apart, so as to leave a broad and slightly rounded forehead. They 

 are smaller in proportion than the ears of the Pine-martin. The eyes, situ- 

 ated where the head curves in to form the nose, appear more oblique than 

 they really are."— (Richardson, I. e.) 



