520 Mr. R. I. Pocock on the 



Rhynchogale^ (fyP® 'nielleri) was associated by Gray with 

 CrossarcJnis and Surtcata, and provisionally left in that 

 category by Thomas. It appears to nie to be more nearly 

 related to Ickneumia and Bdeogale, despite the suppression of 

 the groove on the upper lip. 



In position and relative size the teeth are not at all unlike 

 those of Ichneumia and Bdeogale, althougii the upper car- 

 nassial is a little more forward. Their chief peculiarity lies 

 in the flatness of the crowns of the molars, probably an 

 adaptation to a frugivorous diet f. Tiie twist of the lower 

 dental row is not much, if at all, more marked than in 

 Bdeogale^ and the same is true of the concavity of the palate. 

 The mesopterygoid fossa is more forward than in Ichneumia 

 and Bdeogale, but the buUoe, which are more inflated poste- 

 riorly than in Bdeogale, do not surpass those of Ichneumonia 

 in that respect. The feet are pentadactyle and hairy as in 

 Ichneumia. The absence of the groove below the rhinarium 

 is a distinctive feature of Bhynchogale, which appears also to 

 have a longish snout; but this latter feature seems to be 

 foreshadowed by the long upper lip of Ichneumia. On the 

 evidence I think the genus may be regarded as a specialized 

 form of the Ichneumia + Bdeogale group of genera. 



The exact position of Cynictis (type 2>€7iicillata) and Para' 

 cyinctis (type selousi) is doubtful, but there are indications 

 perhaps of closer kinship with Ichneumia than with any 

 other genus, although the relationship is not close. Never- 

 theless, the large ears of Cynictis are foreshadowed in 

 Ichneumia, and, as in that genus, the fore foot is hairy down 

 to the carpal pad and the hind foot down or almost down to 

 the plantar pad; but the suppression of the Iialluxin Cynictis 

 and of both pollex and hallux in Paracyniclis, and the reduc- 

 tion in depth of the interdigital webs mark the feet as more 

 specialized than in Ichneumia, though possibly in the greater 

 length of the claws they are more primitive. Specialized 

 features in the skull are its shortness, a ciuiracter correlated, 

 judging from Suricata, wiih stronger postorbital bars and 



* I have seen no fresh or spirit-preserTed material of this genus apart 

 from a newly born kitten found by White at Zomba and preserved in 

 the JJritish Museum. The anal sack is well developed, but the most 

 remarkable feature about the specimen is the enormous depth of the 

 upper lip beneath the rhinariiim, giving iin unusually thick aspect to the 

 muzzle. The rhinarium, moreover, is set upon the summit of the 

 muzzle, and has an upward, not a forward aspect, almost as in Cijnogale. 

 Since I do not know the condition of the muzzle in the youug of other 

 genera of mongooses, a simple record of the facts must suffice. 



t "White found the stomachs of Jthynclwyale filled with fruit (P. Z. S. 

 18<J4, p. lyO). 



