MUSTELID^E 567 



and Central America, and N. rufa of South America from Surinam 

 to Paraguay. Remains of this genus, mostly referable to the 

 existing species, occur in the cavern-deposits of Brazil. 



Cercoleptes. 1 Dentition : i f , c ^, p f , m f ; total 36. Molars 

 with low flat crowns, very obscurely tuberculated. Skull short and 

 rounded, with flat upper surface. Vertebrae : C 7, D 1 4, L 6, S 3, 

 C 26-29. Clavicles present, but in a very rudimentary condition. 

 Head broad and round. Ears short. Body long and musteline. 

 Limbs short. Tail long, tapering, and prehensile. Fur short and 

 soft. Tongue long and very extensile. But one species of this 

 somewhat aberrant genus is known, C. caudivolvulus, the Kinkajou, 

 found in the forests of the warmer parts of South and Central 

 America. It is about the size of a Cat, of a uniform, pale, yellowish- 

 brown colour, nocturnal and arboreal in its habits, feeding on 

 fruit, honey, eggs, and small birds and mammals, and is of a 

 tolerably gentle disposition and easily tamed. 



Family MUSTELID^E. 



True molars J- (or ^ in Mellivora 2 ). No alisphenoid canal. In 

 the upper molar the inner tubercular portion is always longer in 

 the antero-posterior direction than the secant external portion ; the 

 degree of inflation of the auditory bulla is but slight; and the 

 palate is generally much produced behind the last molars, as is the 

 case with the members of the preceding family. The postglenoid 

 process of the cranium is generally considerably curved over the 

 glenoid fossa, so as to hold very tightly the condyle of the man- 

 dible. The humerus may or may not have an entepicondylar 

 foramen. Except in the Otters, the kidneys resemble those of 

 the Procyonidce in being of simple structure. 



This family is a large and widely distributed one, especially in 

 the northern temperate regions of the earth. The different genera, 

 which are very difficult to arrange in any natural order, are rather 

 artificially divided, chiefly according to the characters of their feet 

 and claws, into the Otter-like (Lutrine), Badger-like (Meline), and 

 Weasel-like (Musteline) forms. 



Subfamily Lutrinse. Feet short, rounded (except the hind feet of 

 Latax). Toes webbed. Claws small, curved, blunt. Head broad 

 and much depressed. Upper molar large and quadrate, with its 

 inner tubercular portion much expanded antero-posteriorly (Fig. 

 261). Kidneys conglomerate. Habits aquatic. 



Lutm. s Dentition : i f , c 1, p , m | ; total 36. Upper 



1 Illiger, Prodromus Syst. Afamm. et Avium, p. 127 (1811). 

 " Also in two other species noticed below. One extinct Otter has two upper 

 molars. 3 Erxleben, Syst. Regn. Animal, p. 445 (1777). 



