External Characters of the FeliJge. 121 



onca, and pardus agrees with that of P. leo. The rhiuarium 

 of Uncia uncia I do not know. 



The foreg;oing account of the range of variation in the 

 structure of the rliinariura in tlie Felidre, and a comparison 

 between that organ in tlie Felidfe and in genera referred 

 to the Viverridae, show that there is practically a complete 

 gradation between the two. 



In Civetiictis civetta^, for example, the rhinarium, which 

 is of the same type as the rhiuarium of Paradoxiirus and of 

 Mungos, is very large and prominent, with the infranarial 

 portions deep and extending laterally beyond the nostrils. 

 But in Genelta the infranarial portions are reduced in size ; 

 and iu Linsang '\ they are so mucli reduced as to be only a 

 little larger than in some of the Felidfe — e, g,, F. pardalis, 

 F. eyra, and F. serval^ which also have the rliinarium 

 tolerably pi'omineut and naked above. The difference, 

 indeed, between the rhinaria of Linsang and of Civetiictis 

 is greater than between the rhinaria of Linsang and F. par- 

 dalis ; and from the prominent rhinarium, with its naked 

 upper side, of F. pardalis, gradations may be traced within 

 the Felidse to the Avide, couipnratively flat rhinarium, with 

 hairy upper side and suppressed infranarial areas, of Panthera 

 leo, the species which, with its allies, has the highest type of 

 rhinarium met with in the -^luroidea. 



The Facial Vibrissa. 



Amongst the ^luroid Carnivores, as I have already shown, 

 the Feliclse are exceptional for the complete absence of the 

 intei'raraal tuft of tactile vibrissse. At all events, I have 

 never found a trace of this tuft in any specimen of the 

 many species that have passed through my hands. For the 

 rest, there is nothing particularly noteworthy about the facial 

 vibrissse. The mystacial and superciliary tufts are alwavs 

 well developed. The two genal tufts occupy the normal 

 position on each cheek, the lower being placed in a line 

 with the corner of the mouth, and the upper a little higher 

 up and a little farther back than the lower. In species 

 with short hair on the cheeks each tuft consists usually of 

 two or three long vibrissse and is very conspicuous, e. g. 

 Panthera pardus and F. caracal. But sometimes there is 

 a reduction in the number. Of two specimens of F. wiedii, 



* P. Z. S. 1915, p. 396. 



t Ann. & Mac^. Nat. Hist. (8) xvi. p. 34], pi. xii. fig. 5 (1915). 



