462 HERPESTES. 
Fic. 85. HERPESTES MUNGO. 
No. 110941 U.S. Nat. Mus. Coll Nat. size 
species; legs short; five toes on each foot, the first one short; claws 
lengthened, not retractile; palms usually naked. Skull with short 
face and elongated braincase, postorbital constriction great; palate 
extending beyond posterior molars; pterygoids short; pterygoid fossa 
wanting. 
404. mungo (Viverra), Gmel., Syst. Nat., 1, 1788, p. 84. 
CoMMON INDIAN MUNGOOSE. 
Type locality. India. Introduced into the Islands of Jamaica, 
Porto Rico, St. Kitts, etc. 
Genl. Char. Hair long, ragged; tail hairy, shorter than head and 
body; tarsus naked to heel; palate extending midway between last 
molars and posterior end of pterygoids, which are parallel. 
Color. Grayish brown, speckled with white or light gray, some- 
times tinged with ferrugineous; hairs with dark brown and grayish 
white rings alternating. 
