1 30 VIVERBIX.^^.. 



The next animal has only a doubtful claim to a place here. 



Gen. Arctictis, Temminck. 



Syn. Ictides, Valence. 



c c 



Char. — Molars ; canines stout, those in the upper jaw very long, 



5 — 5 



compressed at the base, with a longitudinal groove exteriorly ; muzzle 

 short, attenuated ; ears short, rounded ; body long ; legs short ; tail 

 nearly as long as the body, partially prehensile ; hair long, rough, copious ; 

 feet plantigrade ; toes five in each foot, with short half-retractile, com- 

 pressed, strongly curved claws. 



126. Arctictis binturong*. 



Viverra apud Raffles. — Blyth, Cat. 157. — Ictides ater, F. Cuvierj 

 Mamm. III. pi. 50-51, olim Paradoxurus alhifrons. 



The Black Bear-cat. 



Bescr. — General colour throughout deep black, with a while border 

 to the ears, and a few brown hairs scattered over the head above, and on 

 the anterior surface of the forelegs ; hairs long, rigid and diverging ; 

 tail monstrously thick at the base, tapering to a point, with bristling 

 straggling hairs, exceeding those of the body in length. 



Cantor describes it as black, sprinkled with pale ferruginous ; head, 

 face, and throat whitish and grizzled ; a ti^ace of a white spot over the 

 eye in the young ; tail black, whitish at the base. 



Length, head and body, 28 to 33 inches ; tail 26 to 27. 



It has a large gland between the anus and genitals, which secretes an 

 oily fluid of an intense but not fetid odour. 



This peculiar animal forms a very distinct genus, whose place in the 

 natural system has not been satisfactorily decided. In general form of 

 skull it resembles Meles, but the relative position of the bones is more like 

 that of Paradoxurus. It deviates from the type of Viverrince in the 

 more strictly plantigrade character of the feet, and in the partially pre- 

 hensile tail, approaching Ailurus and Cercoleptes among the Ursidw. The 

 head is somewhat bulky, and the muzzle slightly turned u]»; the ears are 



