250 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



"The striped civet of the humid forest is apparently entirely 

 nocturnal .... Though fairly common" 20 kilometers west of 

 Vondrozo, "as we found by trapping, none was seen in the daytime. 



"Three stomachs from near Vondrozo and one from near Maro- 

 antsetra all contained insect matter and one contained also a lizard 

 .... The striped civet was known as 'fanaloka' amongst the Ata- 

 moor in the southeast." (Rand, 1935, p. 93.) 



Family PROTELIDAE: Aard-wolves 



The single genus of this family contains one species, which has 

 been divided into half a dozen subspecies. They range over southern 

 and eastern Africa. All come within the scope of this work. 



Aard-wolf. Maanhaar Jackal (Boer). Faux-loup; Loup de 

 terre (Fr.). Zibethyane (Ger.) 



PROTELES CRISTATUS (Sparrman) 



Viverra cristata Sparrman, Resa till Goda Hopps-Udden, vol. 1, p. 581, 1783. 



(Near Little Fish River, Somerset East, Cape Province.) 

 FIGS.: Cuvier, Regne animal, disciples' ed., Mamm., atlas, pi. 40, fig. 3, 



1836-1849; Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1869, pi. 36; W. L. Sclater, 1900, 



vol. 1, p. 81, fig. 21; Anderson and de Winton, 1902, pi. 28; Derscheid, 



1925, pi. A; Pocock, 1937, p. 758, fig. 



The Aard-wolf is of particular scientific interest as the sole repre- 

 sentative of the family Protelidae; and it has been accorded rigid 

 protection as a Class A mammal under the London Convention of 

 1933. 



Six subspecies have been proposed, as listed below, but since their 

 distributional limits have not been worked out, all will be included 

 in this account of the species as a whole. 



Proteles cristatus cristatus (Sparrman) . Cape Aard-wolf. (Type 

 locality as given above.) 



Form hyenalike; general color dirty yellowish gray, with project- 

 ing coarse hairs, black and white; an erectile black mane from 

 nape to tail; seven to nine transverse black stripes on sides; upper 

 parts of limbs with indistinct black bands; feet black; face, lower 

 jaws, and chin brown; tail yellowish at base, rest black. Head and 

 body, 32 inches; tail without hairs, 6 inches. (W. L. Sclater, 1900, 

 vol. 1, pp. 80-81.) 



Proteles cristatus pallidior Cabrera, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 

 vol. 6, p. 464, 1910. Nubian Aard-wolf. ("Suakim," Anglo-Egyptian 

 Sudan.) 



General color pale yellowish cream ; body hairs unicolored ; cheeks 

 and sides of neck not rufous as in true cristatus; mane with very 

 little black; feet brownish, not black; tail black only at tip (Cabrera, 

 1910, p. 464). 



