6;8 



THE CARNIVORES 



It has already been mentioned that fossil remains of the common 

 badger are met with in the cavern and other superficial deposits of 

 England; and it may be added that they also occur in those of the Continent. 

 Beyond these, however, no fossil badgers have hitherto been met with, except in 

 strata of the Pliocene period in Persia. When our comparatively full acquaintance 

 with the extinct Tertiary Mammals of Europe and Northern India is taken into 

 account, this remarkable absence of the remains of badgers is strongly suggestive 

 that Persia or the adjacent regions must have been the original ancestral home of 

 these animals, from whence they migrated westward. 



THE MALAYAN BADGER. 



(One-fourth natural size.) 



THE MALAYAN BADGER 

 Genus Mydaus 



As being the sole representative of the badgers inhabiting the islands of the 

 Malayan region, the curious looking animal depicted in the accompanying illustra- 

 tion may be appropriately designated the Malayan badger. It is known to the 

 natives of Java as the Teledu, while by the Germans it is termed, on account of its 

 evil odor, Stinkdachs ; its technical name being Mydaus meliceps. 



The Malayan badger forms a kind of connecting link between the true badgers 

 and the under-mentioned sand-badgers, having a tail shorter than in the former, 

 while its cheek-teeth are much more like those of the latter. It is a comparatively 

 small animal, the length of the head and body being about fifteen inches, and that 



