CHARACTERS OF THE PARADOXURIN^. 399 



The posterior margin of the ear, nearly in a line with the 

 supratragus, is doubled to form a definite pocket, called the 

 " pouch " by Mivart and the " Korbchen " or " Tasche " by Boas. 

 For this I have proposed the name " bursa." The anterior flap 

 of this is continuous above and below with the rim of the pinna, 

 and its edge is deeply, widely, and angularly emarginate. The 

 posterior flap, on the contrary, is semilunar with a continuously 

 convex edge, the upper and lower ends of which are attached 

 behind the rim of the pinna, as in the Genet and, I believe, all 

 species of Felis. 



Comparing the ear of Paradoxurus larvatus with that of the 

 three genera of Yiverrines — Genetta, Viverricula, and Civettictis — 

 the following points may be noticed. In Genetta dongolana 

 (Somaliland) the bursa is formed as in P. larvatus, except that 

 the emargination of the anterior flap is nearly rectangular in the 

 former and obtusely angular in the latter. In Civettictis civetta 

 and Viverricida malaGcensis, on the other hand, the anterior flap 

 is less deeply and more widely emai-ginate and the convex edge 

 of the posterior flap is continuous above and below with the rim 

 of the pinna, instead of I'ising behind it. Also in these two the 

 inner of the two anterior ridges carries a much larger process 

 overhanging the anterior end of the supratragus (antihelix or 

 plica principalis) than is to be seen in Genetta dongolana and 

 P. larvatus. 



In Genetta dongolana and rubiginosa the tragus is more 

 markedly bilobed and the antitragus provided with a better 

 developed external ridge, giving I'ise to the " double" condition 

 described by Mivart in G. tigrina, than in P. larvatus. This 

 external ridge is very well foi'med in Viverricida, but is not 

 lai'ger in Civettictis than in Paradoxurus larvatus. 



Apart, however, from the bursa, the ears of the four species 

 are very much alike, and the recorded diflerences in the exact 

 shape of the ridges must be tested in the case of other species of 

 the genera before, in my opinion, it will be safe to attach 

 systematic importance to them. They may be due merely to 

 individual variation. 



The ear of Paradoxurus hermaphroditus resembles that of 

 P. larvatus except that the anterior flap of the bursa is more 

 deeply and roundly emarginate and its angles, especially the 

 inferior angle, are more produced. 



I did not examine in a fresh state the ears of Arctictis. The 

 only point of importance that could be made out on a dry skin 

 was the presence of the bursa and its resemblance to that of 

 Paradoxurus larvatus, in the origin of the upper end of the 



side of the so-called antitragus. Mivart recorded the two ridges as a " double 

 aiititragus," a quite intelligible view. On tlie other hand, Mivart does not seem to 

 have detected that the ridge he named the post-tragiis { = anteron 6 of Boas) corre- 

 sponds to the basal portion of the ascending helix in man, and that the supra-tragus 

 X = 'pUca ■principalis of Boas) is the homologuc nf part of the aniiJieJi.v of human 

 anatomists. 



