190 



THE BUSH-DOG. 



ICTICYON VENATICUS. 



Cynogale venatica, Lund, Blik paa Brasiliens Dyreverden, 4th Afhand- 

 ling, Kongel. Danske Videnskab. Selskabs, vol. ix. p. 201 

 (1842). 



Icticyon venaticus, Lund, ibid. vol. xi. p. 62, pi. 41 (1845) ; Wagner, 

 Wiegmann's Archiv, ix. Jahrgang, Bd. i. p. 355 ; Van der 

 Hoeven, Verhandelingen d. Kon. Akad. van Wetenschap- 

 pen, Derde Deel, Amsterdam, 1856 ; Burmeister, Fauna 

 Brasiliens, p. 1, pis. 17-20 (1856) ; id. Thiere Brasiliens, 

 Theil i. p. 103 (1854) ; Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1868, 

 p. 498 ; id. Cat. Carnivorous Mammalia, p. 183 ; Sclater, 

 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1879, p. 664 j Flower, Proc. Zool. Soc. 

 1880, p. 70, pi. 10. 



Cynalicus melanog aster, Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xvii. p. 293 

 (1846). 



THIS curious and aberrant canine animal was first described by Lund 

 under a name which was already appropriated to denote an aquatic 

 member of the Civet family *, so that it must receive the second 

 generic name imposed on it by the same author. It is an animal of 

 very considerable antiquity, since remains of the same species have 

 been obtained from caverns and pleistocene deposits of Brazil ; and yet 

 it would seem, from its teeth, to be rather a modification of the normal 

 type of the family than a representative of an ancestral form. 

 . In external appearance it is at once remarkable from its short limbs, 

 heel, and ears, its very short tail, its shortened muzzle, and relatively 

 long body and long and thick neck. 



A living specimen in Burmeister's possession was omnivorous, but, 



* By Dr. Gray in 1836. For farther information about Cynogale, see our paper on 

 the ^Eluroidea, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1882, p. 171. 



