30 MOSTLY MAMMALS 



the prevalent type of coloration in different groups, and 

 I accordingly proceed to give a list of some more or less 

 well-known mammals arranged according to the plan of 

 their markings. 



i . Mammals with dark longitudinal stripes. — Striped mon- 

 gooses {Galidictis) of Madagascar, in one of which the 

 stripes are very narrow and close, while in the other they 

 are broader and more widely separated ; these animals 

 belonging to the civet family. The three-striped palm- 

 civet {Arctogale) ; the genet, the markings here tending to 

 break up into spots ; the three-striped opossum ; the palm- 

 squirrel, and chipmunks (Tamias). 



In all the above the stripes are dark upon a greyish 

 ground, but in the following they take the form of black 

 and white stripes, the white area being generally the 

 larger ; and it may be noted that all belong to the weasel 

 family. They include the skunks, the South African weasel 

 (Poecilogale), and the Cape polecat (Ictonyx) ; while similar 

 markings obtain on the head of the badger. 



2. Mammals with dark spots. — These may be divided 

 into several sub-groups, according to the form of the 

 spots. Those in which the spots are small, more or less 

 nearly circular, and solid, include the hunting-leopard, the 

 tiger-cat, serval, lynx, spotted hyaena, large-spotted civet 

 (Viverra megaspila), the African linsang (Poiana), and the 

 young of the puma. The blotched genet (Genetta tigrina) 

 forms a transition to blotches. Some of the civets are 

 more or less distinctly spotted, in others the coloration is 

 intermediate between spots and longitudinal stripes. 



As species in which the spots are enlarged to form more 

 or less quadrangular blotches, we may cite the common 

 giraffe and those Oriental civets known as linsangs. 



By a splitting-up of a certain spot into a more or less 



