CLASSIFICATION OF THE MUSTELID^. 831 



mandible remote from the condyle ; the teeth with rounded cnsps, 

 and the median lower incisor snppi'essed. 



Genus Latax. 



No one can doubt that Lcdax is a Lutrine profoundly modified 

 in adaptation to marine life. The change in its method of feed- 

 ing, from the capture of swift-swimming fish to the picking up 

 and crushing of sessile molluscs or slow-moving crustaceans, has 

 modified the teeth and skull in the way indicated ; and the 

 increase in size and alteration in structure of the hind feet, 

 accompanied by loss of length in the tail, suggests the need for 

 skilful turning amongst submei'ged rocks, rather than for swift 

 progression through the water and comparative activity upon 

 the land. 



a'. Hind feet usuallj' smaller, never larger than fore feet ; no structural 

 modifications subservient to aquatic life ; kidneys not lobulate. 



h. Cavitj' of bulla completely' divided into two subequal chambers by olilique 

 partition passing from tlic stylomastoid foramen forwards and inwards 

 to the carotid foramen. 



Helictidin^e Gray & Gill. 



Bulla not communicating with periotic hollow, its roof close to 

 auditory annulus. Upper carnassial with laige bicuspid talon ; 

 molar wider than long, smaller than carnassial ; lower carnassial 

 with moderate heel and large metaconid. Rhinarium very deep 

 below nostrils, lateral slit of nostrils long and complete ; no phil- 

 trum or groove on upper lip. Ear with well-developed bursa. 

 Feet fossorial, naked below, but narrow, with webbing only 

 extending to proximal end of digital pads, which are widely 

 separable ; all tlie pads coarsely striate ; two long metatarsal pads. 

 ISTo ana.l pouches. 



Genera Helictis and Melogale. 



Although Helictis has been allowed by almost universal consent 

 to retain a place in the Melinpe, where it was placed by Flower, 

 recent examination has jnstified its separation from that sub- 

 family, as I suggested last year, and its assignment to a special 

 subfamily as proposed by Gray a.nd Gill. The auditoiy bulla is 

 C[uite peculiar, and the teeth are neither Meline nor Musteline ; 

 tlie I'hinarium may be described as Meline and the ear as Muste- 

 line; the feet, although fossorial in the matter of the claws, are 

 not so specialised for digging as those of Meles ; the tail, moreover, 

 is long and there is no trace of the subcaudal pouch found in that 

 genus. Apart from the auditory bulla Helictis is a less specialised 

 form than Meles, and is a type intermediate between the " fos- 

 sorial" and " non-fossorial " members of the Mustelidpe. Its 

 trivial name Ferret-Badger is not inappropriate. 



