190 



THE BUSH-DOG. 



ICTICYON VENATICUS. 



Cynognle venatica, Lund, Blik paa Brasiliens Dyreverdcn, 1th Af hand- 

 ling, Kongel. Danske Videnskab. Selskabs, vol. ix. p. 201 

 (1S42). 



Icticyon venaticus, Lmid, ibid. vol. xi. p. 02, pi. 41 (184")) ; Wagner, 

 Wicgmann's Archiv, ix. Jahrgang, Bd. i. p. 355 ; Vander 

 Ilocven, Yerhaudclingcn d. Kon. Akad. van Wetcnschap- 

 I)eii, Dirdc Deel, Amsterdam, 1856 ; Burmcister, Fauna 

 Brasiliens, p. 1, pU. 17-20 (1856) ; id. Thicre Brasiliens, 

 Theil i. p. 103 (1854) ; Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1868, 

 p. 498 ; id. Cat. Carnivorous Mammalia, p. 183 ; Sclater, 

 Proc. Zool. Soc. ISrO, p. GGl; Flower, Proc. Zool. Soc. 

 1880, p. 70, pi. 10. 



Cynallcus melanogaster, Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xvii. p. 293 

 (1846). 



This curious and aberrant canine animal was first described by Luud 

 under a name which was already appropriated to denote an aquatic 

 member of the Civet family *, so that it must receive the second 

 generic name imposed on it by the same author. It is an animal of 

 very considerable antiquity, since remains of the same species have 

 been obtained from caverns and pleistocene deposits of Brazil ; and yet 

 it would seem, from its teeth, to be rather a modification of the normal 

 type of the family than a representative of an ancestral form. 



In external appearance it is at once remarkable from its short limbs, 

 heel, and ears, its very short tail, its shortened muzzle, and relatively 

 louK bodv and long and thick neck. 



A living specimen in Burmeister's possession was omnivorous, but, 



* By Dr. Gray in 1836. For further information about Cymyale, seeoiu' paper on 

 the ^©iiroidea, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1882, p. 171. 



