VIII.] CARNIVORA. 2/3 



In the civets and their allies ( Viverridtz] the Oriental region 

 approaches the Ethiopian in richness, and thereby stands in 

 marked contrast to the Holarctic, which contains only a single 

 species of Genetta and another of Herpestes in southern Europe, 

 although the latter genus ranges into Kashmir. Of the true civets 

 ( Viverrd] the whole of the species, with the exception of one from 

 the Ethiopian region, are Oriental, and some are confined to the 

 countries to the east of the Bay of Bengal; one small species being 

 separated by many zoologists as Viverricula. The beautifully- 

 coloured linsangs (Linsangd) are exclusively Oriental, and are con- 

 fined to the eastern Himalayan and Malayan sub-regions, although 

 represented in West Africa by the nearly allied Poiana. Equally 

 characteristic of the region are the two species of Hemigale, which 

 are, however, exclusively Malayan, H. hosei being limited to the 

 mountains of North Borneo. The palm-civets of the genus Para- 

 doxurus range throughout the region, and have also representatives 

 in Celebes : their place being taken in the Ethiopian region by 

 the allied genus Nandinia. On the other hand, the two species 

 of small-toothed palm-civets constituting the genus Arctogale are 

 restricted to the Burmese and Malayan sub-regions ; the same 

 being also the case with the binturong, which is the sole repre- 

 sentative of the genus Arctitis, distinguished by its pencilled ears 

 and prehensile tail. Still more circumscribed is the range of the 

 peculiar genus Cynogale, of which the single species is confined to 

 the Malayan sub-region. All the foregoing forms belong to the 

 sub-family Viverrina \ the Herpestincz, which are so numerous in 

 the Ethiopian region, being represented only by species of the 

 large and widely-spread genus Herpestes. Both this genus and 

 Viverra date from the European Oligocene, the latter also 

 occurring in the Pliocene of France and India ; but none of the 

 others are known in a fossil state. It is, however, probable that 

 most of the other genera are comparatively modern derivatives 

 from the original stock ; and the high development in the Malayan 

 sub-region of a group first known from the Oligocene of Europe 

 is another instance of the relationship of the faunas of these 

 countries. 



Although the striped hyaena (Hycena striata) is by no means 

 confined to India, its range extending through south-western Asia 

 L. 18 



