193 



THE VIVERRINES. 



which can be closed when the animal dives. 

 The cheeks and lips are furnished with enor- 

 mously long whiskers, and there are similar 

 long hairs above the eyes. These hairs are 

 all strong bristles of a yellow colour, and im- 

 part quite a peculiar aspect to the face. The 

 fur is smooth and thick, and intermingled 



with pretty long lustrous bristly hairs. It 

 is of a dark-brown colour. The dentition 

 is very remarkable. The canines are very 

 strong, the premolars very sharp. The last 

 upper premolar has something of the charac- 

 ter of a carnassial tooth, but the two last molars 

 both above and below have almost flat crowns 



Fig. 94. — The Mampalon (Cynogak Bennettii). page 191. 



with blunt tubercles. This structure is met 

 with alike in the otters and in the fruit- 

 eaters, and in the former it indicates a diet 

 consisting mainly of crustaceans, mussels, and 

 snails. 



The mampalon lives on the banks of lakes 

 and rivers in the islands of Borneo and 

 Sumatra. It feeds chiefly on fish and crabs; 

 but it is said also to be a good climber, and 

 to despise neither birds nor fruits. 



THE MANGOUSTIS 



(CY.NOPODA). 



With elongated toes, large non-retractile claws, and 

 naked soles. 



From this group, very rich in genera and 

 species, we .select only a few noteworthy 

 representatives. 



The True Mangoustis {Hcrpestcs) may 

 properly have a place assigned to them in 



advance of the other genera on account of 

 the good reputation which some of them have 

 acquired. They have a very long but strong 

 and well-set body, a long pointed tail, short 

 legs, feet with five toes, armed with very long, 

 strong, curved, non-retractile claws. Some 

 species, however, exhibit only four toes on 

 the hind-feet. The features are round or 

 broadly oval. The dentition indicates the 

 carnivore. The canines are short, much 

 curved, and very sharp; the premolars cut- 

 ting, the carnassial pretty well developed, 

 especially in the upper jaw; the molars with 

 sharp points on the crown. There are u.sually 

 40 teeth in all, four premolars and two molars 

 in each half of each jaw. But in some species 

 the first premolar disappears early, so that 

 the total amounts to only 36 teeth. The fur 

 is always rough on account of the numerous 

 bristles which project beyond a short wool, 

 and often become so long that they en- 



