MUSTELID^E 575 



Tail moderate, tapering. A full soft under fur, with longer, bristly 

 hairs interspersed. The best-known species is A. colhiris, the Sand- 

 Badger, or Bhdlu-soor l (i.e. Bear-pig) of the natives, found in the 

 mountains of the north-east of India and Assam. It is rather 

 larger than the English Badger, higher on its legs, and very Pig-like 

 in general aspect, of a light gray colour, with flesh-coloured snout 

 and feet ; and is nocturnal and omnivorous in habits. The imper- 

 fectly known A. taxoides from Assam and Arakan, and perhaps 

 China, is a much smaller species. A third form probably exists in 

 Eastern Tibet. Professor Mivart remarks that the brain-case of 

 Arctonyx is narrower than in any other Arctoid; while the palate is 

 relatively longer than in any other Carnivore except Procyon ; and 

 the metatarsus is relatively shorter than in any other member of 

 the order. 



Mydaus.' 2 Dentition as in the last genus, but the cusps of the 

 teeth more acutely pointed. Cranium elongated, face narrow and 

 produced. Suborbital foramen small, and the palate, as in all the 

 succeeding genera of this group, produced backwards about midway 

 between the last molar tooth and the glenoid fossa. Vertebrae : C 7, 

 D 14-15, L 6-5, S3, C 12. Head pointed in front; snout produced, 

 mobile, obliquely truncated, the nostrils being inferior. Limbs 

 rather short and stout. Tail extremely short, but clothed with 

 rather long bushy hair. Anal glands largely developed, and emitting 

 an odour like that of the American Skunks. One species, M. meliceps, 

 the Teledu, a small burrowing Badger, found in the mountains of 

 Java at an elevation of 7000 or more feet above sea-level. 



Meles. 3 Dentition : i -f , c ^, p $, m ; total 38. The first 

 premolar in both jaws extremely minute and often deciduous. 

 Upper molar very much larger than the carnassial, subquadrate, as 

 broad as long. Lower carnassial with a broad, low, tuberculated 

 talon, more than half the length of the whole tooth. The postglenoid 

 processes of the skull are so strongly developed, and the glenoid 

 fossa is so deep, that the condyle of the lower jaw is firmly held in 

 its place even after all the surrounding soft parts are removed. 

 Vertebrae : C 7, D 15, L 5, S 3, C 18. Muzzle pointed. Ears very 

 short. Body stout, broad. Limbs short, strong, subplantigrade. 

 Tail short. The best-known species is the common Badger (M. taxus) 

 of Europe and Northern Asia, still found in many parts of England, 

 where it lives in woods, is nocturnal, burrowing, and very omni- 

 vorous, feeding on mice, reptiles, insects, fruit, acorns, and roots. 

 Other nearly allied species, M. leucurus and M. chinensis, are found in 

 continental Asia, M. canescens in Persia, and M. anakuma in Japan. 



The appearance of the common Badger is too well known to 



1 Possibly the name should be Balu-soor (Sand-pig). 



2 F. Cuvier, Hist. Nat. des Mammiferes (1825). 



3 Storr, Prodromus Meth. Mamm. p. 34 (1780). 



