VIVERRID^E 535 



the muzzle broad and depressed. Whiskers very long and 

 abundant. Ears small and rounded. Toes short and slightly 

 webbed at the base. Tail short, cylindrical, covered with short 

 hair. Fur very dense and soft, of a dark brown colour, mixed 

 with black and gray. Humerus without entepicondylar foramen. 



Subfamily Herpestinse. Auditory bulla very prominent, and 

 somewhat pear-shaped, the posterior chamber being large, rounded, 

 and generally with its greatest prominence to the outer side. The 

 anterior chamber considerably dilated, and produced into a short 

 inferior Avail to the auditory meatus, in which is a depression or 

 vacuity just below the centre of the opening of the meatus. 

 Sometimes this vacuity is continued into the meatus, forming a 

 narrow fissure. The paroccipital process does not project beyond 

 the bulla, but is spread out and lost (in adult animals) on its 

 posterior surface. Toes straight; claws lengthened, exserted, 

 non-retractile. No perineal glands. The dentition is always of 

 a markedly sectorial type ; and the orbit may be surrounded by 

 bone. Very generally the anus opens into a sac-like depression. 

 The majority of the genera are Ethiopian ; the type genus alone 

 extending into the Oriental and Palsearctic regions. 



Herpestes. 1 Dentition : i f , c ^, p , sometimes f , m f ; total 

 40 or 36. Teeth of molar series generally with strongly developed, 

 sharply -pointed cusps. Skull elongated, constricted behind the 

 orbits. Face short and compressed. Frontal region broad and 

 arched. Postorbital processes of frontal and jugal bones well 

 developed, generally meeting so as to complete the circle of the 

 orbit behind. Vertebra: C 7, D 13, L 7, S 3, C 21-26. Head 

 pointed in front. Ears short and rounded. Body very long and 

 slender. Extremities short. Five toes on each foot, the first, 

 especially that on the hind foot, very short. Toes free, or but 

 slightly palmated. Palms generally naked. Distal portion of 

 soles naked, under surface of tarsus and metatarsus usually 

 clothed with hair, but considerable specific variation in this respect. 

 Tail long or moderate, generally thick at the base, and sometimes 

 covered with more or less elongated hair. The longer hairs 

 covering the body and tail almost always annulated. This genus 

 contains a very large number of animals commonly called 

 Ichneumons, or in India Mungooses, varying in size from that of a 

 large Cat down to a Weasel. They are widely distributed over 

 the African continent and the southern parts of Asia, especially 

 India and the Indo-Malayan archipelago, one species occurring also 

 in Spain. They are mostly terrestrial in their habits, feeding on 

 small mammals and birds, reptiles, especially snakes, eggs of birds 

 and reptiles, and also insects. Some species are partially 

 domesticated, being used to keep houses clear of rats, mice, and 

 1 Illiger, Prodromus Syst. Mamm. p. 135 (1811). 



