484 



THE CARNIVORES 



in the civets (forty) are, indeed, much more like those of an Insectivore than of a 

 Carnivore, most of them being separated from one another by spaces ; the tusks or 

 canines are not longer than the front teeth, and the flesh-tooth is scarcely distin- 

 guishable from the adjacent teeth. The length of the head and body of the eupleres 

 is about nineteen and one-half inches, the tail being about one-third of this length. 

 The body is covered with a uniformly-colored woolly fur, of which the general tint 

 is olive, finely speckled with yellow ; this speckled appearance being due to the in- 

 dividual hairs being banded with differently-colored rings. The ears are large, the 

 short tail is bushy, the feet, which are furnished with five toes, are remarkable for 

 their extreme slendernesss, and the claws are long and like those of the mungooses. 

 In the young eupleres the fur of the shoulders has black transverse stripes. It does 

 not appear that anything is known of the habits of this rare, and doubtless noc- 

 turnal creature, but the weakness of its teeth and jaws suggests that its food 

 consists rather of insects than of flesh. 



EXTINCT CIVET-LIKE ANIMAL 



It has been mentioned under the heading of the true civets, that remains of 

 species belonging to that group are found low down in the Tertiary series of Europe. 

 It may be added here that remains of mungooses, which have been referred to the 

 typical genus Herpestes, are also found in these same upper Eocene and lower 

 Miocene rocks of France. There also occur the bones and teeth of other animals 

 more nearly allied to the linsangs ; while others, again, appear to connect the civets 

 with the weasels a connection which would have been wholly unsuspected if 

 science had only existing animals to deal with. In a later geological epoch 

 namely the lower part of the Pliocene there occurs another interesting type known 

 as the ictithere, which serves so completely to connect the civets with the 

 hyaenas as to prove conclusively the close alliance of these two families of 

 Carnivores. Before, however, proceeding to the hyaenas, we must first take into 

 consideration 



THE AARD-WOLF 



Family PROTELEIDsE 

 Genus Proteles 



The remarkable creature known to the Dutch boers of South Africa as the 

 aard-wolf is one of those animals which have long been a puzzle to zoologists. It is 

 evidently allied in many respects to the hyaenas, but in others it is so different that 

 it becomes a matter of exceeding difficulty to decide if it should be included in the 

 same family. The majority of English zoologists appear, however, to be inclined 

 to regard the aard-wolf (Proteles cristatus) as the solitary representative of a distinct 

 family. 



In size it has been compared to a large and " leggy " fox ; while, in external 

 appearance, the aard-wolf (which is known to the Kaffirs as the isidawane) some- 



