1885.] DR. ST. G. MIVART ON THE ARCTOIDEA. 367 



Taxidea^. — The A.merican Badger, or Carcajou, is an inde- 

 fatigable burrower. It eats Spermophiles, Arvicolas, birds' eggs, 

 and snails, also honeycomb, wax, and bees. The bones and 

 wool of lambs have been found in its burrow. In the north it 

 hibernates from November to April, but does not lose much flesh. 

 It has three or four young at a birth. It is so strong an animal 

 that two men have been unable to pull it out of its burrow by its 

 hind legs. For further details as to its habits, see Coues, ' Fur- 

 bearing Mammals,' p. 285, and also Audubon and Bachman, vol. i. 

 p. 363. 



It is remarkable for the enormous claws of its fore paws. The 

 muzzle is furry except at its extremity, which is naked, inclined 

 downwards and backwards, with a median, vertical groove. The nos- 

 trils are not visible laterally. The eye is small and high up. The 

 ears are low, rounded, and very broad, with an exceptionally large 

 external aperture protected by long hairs. The palmar and plantar 

 surfaces bear naked pads. It varies much in colour. The short 

 tail has beneath it a subcaudal pouch (as in Meles), with a bilobed 

 prominence in front of it. A good account of the habits of the 

 animal will be found in Coues's ' Fur-bearing Mammals,' p. 280. It 

 ranges through western and central North America from N. lat. 58" 

 into Mexico. 



There are 15 dorsal, 5 lumbar, 3 sacral, and 14 or more caudal 

 vertebrae. The ultimate phalanges of the digits of the manus are 

 very much longer relatively than those of any other Carnivore, 

 those even of Suricata being but little more than half the relative 

 length of those of Taxidea. The pelvic limb is but of the same 

 length as the pectoral limb, a condition which only obtains besides 

 in Mydaus amongst Carnivores. Only in Croeuta is the pectoral 

 limb the longer. 



Hence, for the first time in our examination of Arctoids, we find 

 the scapula with the postero-superior angle sharply produced. The 

 metacarpals are still shorter relatively than in Meles. There are 

 very large hyperapophyses on the lamiuBe of the cervical vertebrae. 



In addition to the cranial characters described by Prof. Flower", 

 we may note that the mastoid and paroccipital processes are much 

 less prominent than in the form last described, the mastoid not 

 descending below the inferior margin of the meatus auditorius ex- 

 ternus''. The palate is a little less prolonged behind the last molars 

 than in Meles, and much less so than in Arctonyx. The postglenoid 



1 See Baird, Mam. of N. A. 1857, pp. 202, 745, pi. 39. fig. 2 ; Gray, P. Z. S. 

 1865, p. 141 ; Stev. U. S. Geol. Survey Terr. 1870, 1871, p. 461 ; Allen, Pr. 

 Boston S. Nat. H. xiii. 1870, p. 183, and Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geogr. Surv. 

 Terr. vol. ii. no. 4, 1875, p. 330 ; Waterhouse, P. Z. S. 1838, p. 154, and Trans. 

 Z. S. 1841, p. 343, pi. lix. ; Buffon, Hist. Nat. Suppl. iii. p. 242, pi. 49 ; Coues, 

 Fur-bearing Mammals, 1877, p. 261 ; Wagner's Supp. ii. p. 182 ; P. Cut. 

 Mamm. iii. p. 45 ; Gervais, Mamm. ii. p. 103; Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. (1788) 

 p. 102. n.7; Shaw, Gen. Zool. i. 1800; Fischer, Syn. 1829, p. 1.51 ; Lesson, 

 Mam. 1827, p. 141. no. 372; Eichardson, F. B. A. i. p. .37. no. 12, pi. ii. ; 

 Audubon and Bachman, Q. N. A. i. p. 360, pi. 47. 



- P. Z. S. 1869, p. 11. 



^ It does not so descend in Ailurus and Bassaris, 



