THE RATELS 



671 



with the under parts of the head, body, and tail, and the entire limbs, are black; 

 while the upper portion of the head, body, and fore half of the tail are whitish gray. 

 The skulls of the ratels may be distinguished by the small number of the large 

 and powerful teeth. The total number is only thirty-two, there being but three 

 pairs of premolar teeth in each jaw, and no tubercular molar in the lower jaw 

 behind the flesh-tooth. The upper teeth, as shown in the figure of the palate 

 of a fossil species, are characterized by the molar (m) being very narrow from 

 front to back, and of the characteristic musteline dumb-bell shape; and also by 



THE CAPE RATEI,. 

 (One-sixth natural size.) 



the flesh-tooth, or fourth premolar (p.^), being larger than the molar, with the 

 tubercle on the inner side placed near the front edge. Moreover, in the lower jaw, 

 the flesh-tooth has a very minute heel at its hinder end. The ratels may be com- 

 pared in size to a badger, the length of the head and body of the Indian species 

 varying from about twenty-six to thirty-two inches, and that of the tail, inclusive 

 of the hair, from six to six and one-half inches. 



The Indian ratel (Mellivora indica) is found from the Himalayas 

 to Cape Comorin, but is unknown in Ceylon or to the eastward of the 

 Bay of Bengal. The African species (M. ratel} occurs throughout Africa, but 



Distribution 



