178 MUSTELID^E. 



several individuals being trapped whilst committing depredations 

 in fowl-houses, and this is confirmed by McMaster. 



Nothing appears to be known of the ratel's breeding-habits. In 

 confinement it is very tame, quiet, and playful, and frequently 

 acquires a habit of tumbling head over heels, for this practice has 

 been noticed in different individuals by Hardvvicke, Sterndale, and 

 others. 



Genus AKCTONYX, F. Cuvier (1825). 



Body and limbs stout, tail short. Snout long, mobile, naked 

 towards the end, and truncated, the terminal disk containing the 

 nostrils being much like that of a pig. Ears very short and rounded. 

 Eyes small. Feet naked below, the naked sole not extending to 

 the heel in the hind foot. Claws of all feet much lengthened, 

 those of the fore feet longest, all slightly curved and blunt. Hair 

 coarse and long, with woolly underfur. Mammae 6'. 



Infraorbital foramen in the skull very large. Bullae very small. 

 The bony palate extends back to the glenoid fossae, and is deeply 

 indented behind in the middle. The posterior portion of the 

 palate is formed by processes from the pterygoid bones. This 

 form of palate is peculiar to Antony <x amongst n'ssipede Carnivora. 



Dentition: i. g, c. j^, pin. rij, m. ~^. The anterior premolars 

 in both jaws often rudimentary or absent. The upper incisors are 

 arranged in a semicircle. The canines are greatly compressed. 

 Upper sectorial furnished with a large median inner lobe, divided 

 by a transverse groove, but without cusps. Upper tubercular 

 molar much larger than upper sectorial, longer than broad, sub- 

 trapezoidal, almost lozenge -shaped, with the heel rounded ; this 

 heel becomes worn away in old skulls. Lower sectorial with a 

 large low tuberculated heel. Vertebrae : C. 7, D. 1(3, L. 4, S. 4, 

 C. 20. 



The hog-badgers, as Jerdon very appropriately names them, have 

 a singular resemblance to a pig, owing to the form of the snout. 

 But little is-known of their habits. Two forms, one of which is 

 very imperfectly known, are recorded from North-eastern India 

 and Burma. 



Synopsis of Indian and Burmese Species. 



Large ; skull from occiput over 6 inches long A. collaris, p. 178. 



Small ; skull from occiput less than 5 inches long . . A. taxoides, p. 180. 



Some details of the anatomy are described by Dr. Gr. Evans, 

 J. A. S. B. viii, p. 408. 



90. Arctonyx collaris. The Hoy-lady er. 



Arctonyx collaris, F. Cuv. Hist. Nat. Mam. pi. 220 (1825) ; Evans, 

 J. A. S. E. vii, p. 732, pi. xliii; viii, p. 408; Blyth, Cat. p. 71 ; id. 

 Mam. Birds Burma, p. 29; Jerdon, Mam. p. 77. 



