186 



THE VIVERRINES. 



in length), it will not excite surprise that the 

 Malagasies have an undue dread of it. It 

 is a very ferocious nocturnal animal, which 

 works great havoc in the poultry -yards, 

 pursues the lemurs on the trees, and attacks 



even young pigs. It is comparatively easy 

 to kill, since it is readily lured by the cry of 

 a fastened hen. The natives eat its flesh, 

 and, in spite of the diabolical stench which 

 the animal diffuses, regard it as a dainty. 



THE VIVERRINES 



(VIVERRIDA). 



Carnivora of small, or at most of moderate, size, with short legs, and two permanent molars in each half 



of each jaw. 



This family, which is so strictly confined 

 to the warm parts of the Old World that the 

 most northerly species are not found to the 

 north of the Mediterranean, presents rather 

 variable characters. 



The body is in most cases long, slender, 

 and not powerfully built; the legs are always 

 short ; the tail is usually very long and bushy, 

 but running to a point at the end. The head 

 is small, the rather long snout always pro- 

 vided with very long whiskers. The brain- 

 case is considerably prolonged towards the 

 back of the skull, the orbits are often closed 

 in the form of a ring, the zygomatic arches 

 not very wide, and the muscular ridges poorly 

 developed. 



The family is divisible into two groups 

 based on the structure of the feet, which 

 have sometimes five, sometimes only four 

 toes. In the one group, of which we may 

 take the civet-cats as the type, the feet 

 resemble those of the felines in structure; 

 while in the other, the mangoustis, we may 

 even observe a tendency to the structure 

 seen in the bears. The civets are, in fact, 

 digitigrade, their toes are connected at the 

 base by a membrane, hairy below as well as 

 above, and armed with retractile claws. The 

 mangoustis, on the contrary, are rather 

 plantigrade, have pretty long toes, which are 

 perfectly distinct, and with the claws non- 



retractile, so that they get worn away in 

 walking. The soles of the feet are naked, 

 or only slightly hairy. 



The fur is sometimes fine and silky, some- 

 times long-haired and coarse. Dark colours, 

 suitable to the generally nocturnal habits 

 of the animals, prevail; yet stripes, spots, 

 and confused markings, which, however, do 

 not stand out very well from the dark 

 ground, are often present. 



The dentition of the Yiverrida, while 

 exhibiting a certain variability in the number 

 of the teeth, presents forms which remind 

 us of the insectivores, and even of certain 

 marsupials, as in particular the rat kangaroos. 

 The incisors and canines have the general 

 characters of the carnivorous dentition, but 

 the canines are often not very prominent or 

 very strong. 



The premolars, on the other hand, play 

 an important role. They are strong, pointed, 

 sometimes conical, sometimes flattened on 

 the sides and with cutting edges, but never 

 develop such strong secondary lobes as are 

 met with in the other Carnivora. In 

 the upper jaw the last premolar, as in all 

 other carnivores, is the carnassial tooth, but 

 it is very variable in its forms. Its crown 

 scarcely ever rises above that of the pre- 

 molar immediately preceding. . When well 

 developed this tooth shows a tendency to 



