1882.] 



AFRICAN MTJNGOOSES. 



91 



This species by its locality, and not C. zebra, no doubt represents 

 the early-known " Viverra mungo," which was said to come from the 

 " East Indies." No cross-striped Mungooses, however, are known 

 from India, and the original specimens must have been obtained 

 from the Cape. A\\ the specimens with exact localities that I have 

 seen come from the eastern parts of the Colony, and none from the 

 western ; so that we may suppose that its true range is very similar 

 to that of Herpestes puIverulenUts^. Probably, however, tame 

 examples were sometimes brought down to Capetown, where they 

 would be seen by the earlier travellers. Dr. Smith says of his 

 Ichneumon tanionotus, " Inhabits Natal : rare." 



VII. SURICATA. 



Type. 



Suricata, Desm. Tabl. Meth. Mamm. in Nouv. 

 Diet. d'H. N. (ed. 1) xxiv. (1804) -S. tetradactyla. 



Rhyzcena, lUig. Prodr. Syst. Mamm. p. 134 

 (!81 1) " S. tetradactyla. 



Range. That of the only species. 



Toes4— 4^ Teeth, I. -|, C. \, P.M.|, M. | x 2 = 38. Hind soles 

 naked. Nose produced. No central naked line from muzzle to 

 upper lip. Fore claws very long, twice as long as the hind. Skull 

 very broad, the zygomata strongly diverging backwards. Facial 

 outline convex. Posterior part of skull very high, not compressed 

 as in Herpestes, but more as in Cynictis. Teeth very similar to 



1 Seep. 74. 



- In a skeleton and a specimen in spirit, I find the following rudiments of 

 the 1st toes : — of the fore foot, in the spirit specimen, a rudimentary metacarpus, 

 2 mm. in length ; in the skeleton, no trace of a hallux, but the above-mentioned 

 rudiment might easily have be«n lost. Of the hind foot, in the spirit specimen, 

 a hallueal metatarsal 2 mm. long and 2^ broad, and, in the skeleton, a similar 

 rudimentary metatarsal and, in addition, a minute Ist phalanx (1 J mm. long 

 and 1 broad). 



