45 6 



CARNIVORES. 



exclusively African species, the blotched genet (G. tigrina) ranges from the Cape 

 to Abyssinia, the feline genet (G. felina) is South African, while the remaining 

 species (G. senegalensis and G. pardina) are from the west coast. Genets are 

 easily tamed ; and in the south of Europe the common species is often kept in 

 houses for the purpose of killing rats and mice. 



THE LINSANGS. 

 Genera Linsang and Poiana. 



The most beautifully coloured of the civet-like animals are the linsangs, of 

 which there are three nearly allied Oriental species, and a fourth from Africa. All 

 the linsangs the name would seem to be of Malayan derivation are characterised 

 by their very long and slender bodies, the shortness of their limbs, the elongation 

 of the head and neck, and the extreme length of the tail, which may exceed that 

 of the head and body together. The claws can be completely withdrawn within 

 their sheaths ; the whole of the soles of the feet are generally hairy ; and there is 

 no scent-pouch. The fur is characterised by its shortness and softness, and is very 

 thick, so that the skin is almost like velvet pile. The ground-colour of the fur is 

 some shade of fulvous, marked with bold black spots or patches; the long tail 

 being ringed with black. On account of their striking and handsome coloration, 

 the name of tiger-civets has been suggested for these animals. An examination 

 of the skull will show that instead of the forty teeth found in the true civets 

 and genets, they have only thirty-eight ; this diminution being due to the loss of 

 the second upper molar, so that there is but one tooth behind the flesh- tooth of the 

 upper jaw instead of the two shown in the figure on p. 449. 



They are all carnivorous, but it is suggested that some of them may also 

 feed on insects. The Asiatic linsangs are characterised by the large size of 

 their spots, which frequently form squarish patches, tending to form transverse 

 bands. These species constitute the genus Linsang. 1 The one African linsang, on 

 the other hand, has smaller spots, which have no tendency to run into bands over 

 the greater part of the body. It has also a naked line running up the sole of the 

 hind-foot, as in the genets. From these slight differences this animal has been 

 made the type of a separate genus Poiana. 



The earliest known of these animals was the Javan linsang (Linsang 

 gracilis), from Java, Borneo, and perhaps Sumatra, shown as the upper figure of 

 our coloured Plate. It is the smallest of the linsangs, with a coloration similar to 

 that of the next species, but with a different kind of skull. 



The Burmese linsang (L. maculosus), which is the largest, and perhaps the 

 handsomest, of the group, appears to be a rare animal, and is at present known 

 only by two specimens, one obtained from near Moulmein, and the other in South 

 Tenasserim. It is represented in the lower figure of the Plate. The tail is 

 slightly shorter than the head and body ; the length of the two latter being about 

 19 inches, and that of the former (including the hair at the tip) just under 17 



1 The name Prionodon is generally used in this sense, but it clashes with a nearly similar name applied to an 

 armadillo. 



