2-jG Lloyd's natural history. 



Characters. — A uniformly coloured species, distinguished from 

 all the other four by its greatly inferior dimensions. The 

 chest and throat lack the black and white markings character- 

 istic of C. gambianus, while the colour of the pelage is quite 

 unlike that of C. ob scums. 



Distribution. — Oubangui region, Upper Congo. 



XIX. THE MEERKATS. GENUS SURICATA. 

 Suricata, Desmarest, Tabl. Meth. Mamm., in Nouv. Diet. 



Hist. Nat. vol. xxiv. (1804). 

 Rhyzczna, Iiliger, Prodr. Syst. Mamm. p. 134 (181 1). 



From the other Smooth-nosed Mungooses the single South 

 African representative of this genus is distinguished by having 

 only four (instead of five) toes on each of the fore- and 

 hind-feet ; while it is further characterised by having three 

 pairs of pre-molar teeth in the upper, and four in the lower 

 jaw ; and likewise by the naked under surface of the whole of 

 the tarsus and metatarsus. The muzzle is produced ; the 

 front claws are elongated and nearly double the length of 

 those on the hind-feet j the profile of the face is convex ; and 

 the teeth are of the general type of those of the preceding 

 genus. 



I. THE MEERKAT. SURICATA TETRADACTYLA. 



Viverra suricat/a, Erxleben, Syst. Regn. Anim. p. 488 (1777). 

 Viverra tetradactyla, Schreber, Saugethiere, vol. iii. p. 434 



(i778). 

 )fus zenik, Scopoli, Delic. Faun. Flor. vol. ii. p. 84 (1786). 

 Viverra zem'fc, et V. tetradactyla, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. vol. i. 



p. 85 (1789). 

 Suricata capensis, Desmarest, Tabl. Meth. Mamm. in Nouv. 



Diet. Hist. Nat. vol. xxiv. (1804). 

 Rhyzcena tetradactyla, Iiliger, Prodr. Syst. Mamm. p. 134 (181 1). 

 Suricata viverrina, Desmarest, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat. 2nd ed- 



vol. xxxii. p. 2Q7 (1819). 



