CLASSIFICATIOlSr OF THE MUSTELIDiE. 833 



Polecats, which they generally resemble in the stiaicture of the 

 feet and teeth, the Martens difiei- from them principally in 

 the structure of the auditory bullae, but also in their longer jaws, 

 less sectorial teeth, the retention of ^j?>i. 1, and the position of 

 the posterior palatine foramina on the sutui-e. 



Subfamily GuLONiNiE Gray & Miller. 



Chiefly distinguishable from the Martinte by having the pre- 

 orbital foramen in front of the orbit, the bull?e small, the auditory 

 tube long, the occipital region short, the mastoid large, the upper 

 anterior premolars separated from the lower, and the metaconid 

 of the lower carnassial suppressed. 



Genus Gulo. 



Subfamily Tayrin^, nov. 



Distinguisha.ble from the Martinse and Guloninse by having 

 the two carpal pads fused into a large mass as large and as wide 

 as the large plantar pad and in contact with it, by the presence 

 of a large metatarsal pad and naked interdigital webs and a very 

 shallow bursa remote from the posterior edge of the ear, by the 

 loss of pm. 1 above and below, the presence of a shallow subcaudal 

 pouch, and an apically unbranched baculum. 



Genus Tayra {■=^Gcdera). 



The Tayra was for quite unintelligible reasons formerly 

 regarded as congeneric with the Grison, the two being quoted as 

 Galictis. They are at least as different as the Polecat is from 

 the Marten. 



e' . Teeth not of tiie sectorial t3'pe, the upper carnassial about as wide as 

 long, with the talon median and arising by a long base from the blade ; 

 the molar about three times the size of the carnassial, as long as wide; 

 lower carnassial with a long wide heel, and the metaconid as large as 

 the other cusps ; the upper incisive line curved. Feet fossorial, with 

 long powerful claws. 



Subfamily Melin^, s. s. 



Two carpal pads separated by a naked or hairy space from the 

 wide plantar pad ; interdigital webs naked below, narrow between 

 the digital pads ; third and fourth digits of hind foot in contact : 

 a well-developed, partially divided metatarsal pad. No trace 

 of bursa on ear. Rhinarium very deep beneath lateral slits of 

 nostrils. A deep subcaudal glandular pouch. 



Genera Meles and Arctonyx. 



I have seen no fresh specimen of Arctonyx, but the external 

 form is exceedingly Badger-like. The teeth, too, are very like 

 those of Meles. The cranial difl'erences between them are well 

 known. In the extension of the mastoid below the auditory 



