MAMMALS MELINAE TAXIDEA. 201 



TAXIDEA, Water-house. 



Taxidea, WATERHOOSE, Pr. Zool. Sec. Lond. VI, 1838, 154. IB. Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond. II, 1841, 343. 



Body stout, robust, depressed. Tail very short. Fore claws much largest ; very fossotial. Posterior upper molar very largo, 

 sub-triangular. Skull wedge-shaped. 



Incisors ^, canines ~, premolars j^|, (including the upper sectorial,) molars l ~, (including 

 lower sectorial,) = 32. In young specimens there is an additional premolar, (first,) which soon 

 disappears ; this will add 1 1 premolar to the lower jaw, making 34 in all. 



The third premolar \\ ith two tuhercles ; the sectorial of the upper jaw and the molar behind 

 it very large, triangular and nearly equal. Body stout, depressed ; tail short ; ears short, 

 pointed ; muffle hairy above. Fore claws much larger than hinder ; very fossorial. 



The genus Taxidea, is peculiar to North America, and at present embraces two species one 

 inhabiting Mexico, the other the western United States and British America. It was first 

 established by Waterhouse on skulls taken from skins brought from Mexico or California, and 

 erroneously supposed to be the same with those from British America. His descriptions and 

 figure, therefore, will.be understood as having reference, probably, to T. berlandieri rather than 

 to T. americana. 



This genus is so strikingly different from Meles as to render it a matter of astonishment that 

 the typical species were ever combined. The discovery of a second species in Mexico, agreeing 

 in all essential generic features with the boreal species, is an additional confirmation of the pro 

 priety of separating the two genera. 



The most striking peculiarity of Taxidea consists in the great expanse of the occipital region, 

 the width of the occiput being equal to that of the skull, measured between the outer surfaces 

 of the zygomatic arches. Thus the general shape is that of a depressed wedge, widest behind 

 and truncated anteriorly, instead of being very much widest across the zygomatic arches, as in 

 Meles. The skull of Meles, indeed, resembles in general shape much more that of Procyon than 

 Taxidea, its occipital region being low, and the outline rising thence, instead of being highest 

 very near the occiput. The occipital crests are well developed in Taxidea, the sagittal very 

 moderate. 



The auditory bullas are very large and convex. The processes of the glenoid cavity are not 

 so well developed as in Meles, though occasionally sufficiently developed to lock the condyles of 

 the lower jaw. The coronoid process has its apex pointed instead of rounded or truncated ; its 

 posterior margin is formed by two lines, the lower rising nearly perpendicularly a little in 

 advance of the condyle, the other rather longer than the first, making a ve*y obtuse angle 

 with it. 



The differences in the character of the teeth are equally striking, though their number is the 

 same. The penultimate, or sectorial upper molar is very large and triangular ; fully equal in 

 size to the last molar, instead of being much smaller ; it has likewise a large tubercle on the 

 inner lobe, scarcely observable in Meles. The last molar is also triangular, (nearly right- 

 angled,) somewhat resembling half the quadrilateral tooth of Meles. 



In the lower jaw the last premolar is larger than in Meles, and has two tubercles. The penul 

 timate molar is smaller and not dilated behind ; the portion of its crown which is applied 

 against the upper sectorial molar is larger than that in contact with the last upper molar, 

 instead of being smaller, as in Meles. 

 26 L 



