FAMILY MUSTELIDJ2. 
29 
FAMILY IV. M US TEL ID/E. 
Comprises small carnivorous animals, with long vermiform bodies on short feet. Neck long. 
Ears short and rounded. Tail long, rarely bushy. Digitigrade, or walking on their 
toes. All diffusing a strong odor, which in some genera forms a defensive weapon. In¬ 
cisors, |; canines, § ; cheek teeth, = 34 - 36. 
Obs. This family embraces the animals formerly included in the old linnean genus Mustela, 
and familiarly known in this country under the names of Mink, Skunk, Weasel and Marten. 
They have been distributed by Cuvier into four, and by later writers into fifteen genera, in¬ 
cluding nearly sixty species distributed over the globe. In this State, we have the types of 
three genera : Mephitis, Mustela and Putorius. 
GENUS MEPHITIS. Cuvier. 
Head small, with a blunt muzzle and slight arched facial outline. Fur coarse and shaggy. 
Tail bushy. Fore feet robust, with five long stout claws. Incisors, f ; canines, % ; cheek 
teeth, T % — 32. Nocturnal. Burrowing. Peculiar to America. 
Obs. Were we to place reliance upon figures and descriptions, we might enumerate nineteen 
species; all of which are, however, considered mere varieties. 
THE SKUNK. 
Mephitis americana. 
PLATE XII. FIG. 1.—(STATE COLLECTION.) 
Viverra mephitis. Lin. Gmel. 
Striated Weasel, and Skunk. Penn. Arct. Zool. Vol. 1, p. 83 and 85. 
Stifling Weasel. Loskiel, p. 85. 
Mustela americana. Desmarest, Mamm. p. 186. 
Mephitis id. Sabine, Frank. Jour. p. 653. Harlan, Fauna, p. 70. 
M. id. Godman, Am. Nat. Hist. Vol. 1, p. 213, figure. 
M. id. var. hudsonica. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. 1, p. 55. 
Characteristics. Black or brownish black, with an irregular whitish patch or stripe over the 
shoulders. Many varieties in its white marks. Length about two feet. 
Description. Head small, when compared to the mass of the body ; arched on its facial out¬ 
line. Snout obtuse. Eyes small and black. Ears small, broad and rounded. Feet broad ; 
and covered with hair, concealing the strong and white claws ; those on the anterior extremi¬ 
ties very robust and curved. Canines strong and conical. The great carnivorous molar above, 
with a large internal tubercle. Trunk of the tail of a moderate length-, about half the length 
of the head and body. 
