1909. ] NEW RATEL FROM SIERRA LEONE. 395 
I believe, certainly known. But the vessel in which Reade went to 
the Gaboon stopped at the Gambia and Sierra Leone*, and it is 
possible that the skin in question came from the latter place. 
In any case it seems to belong to the same kind of Ratel as the 
one I have here described as new, though possibly subspecifically 
distinct from it. It is markedly dark in colour, being dark brown 
speckled with dirty yellow. Some of the hairs are dirty yellow 
throughout ; others have a pale annulus of that tint. 
Although the marked contrast between the colouring of the 
head and that of the body distinguishes J. signata at a glance 
from its congeners known to me, a specimen described by Pousar- 
gues from the French Congo appears to show a decided approach 
to it, despite Pousargues’ remark that he could establish no differ- 
ence between this specimen and examples from East and South 
Africa. He states, however, that the back bears a median iron- 
grey longitudinal zone, which extends from the middle of the 
upper side of the neck to the tail and is limited in front by a 
pure white “caloette” on the nape of the neck and head. It is 
obvious, however, that this Congoese specimen differs entirely 
from the one here described in the uniform iron-grey hue of the 
back, shoulders, and hind quarters. 
Mrs. Bettington, who brought this Ratel from Sierra Leone, 
gave me the following information about it. According to native 
reports the species is nocturnal and lives to a great extent upon 
fish, which it catches with its paws at the edge of streams, and 
the specimen above described preferred fish to meat during the 
time she had it in captivity. It also showed a liking for bread 
in preference to meat. She kept it in a yard with some fowls 
and it never made any attempt to kill them. Thinking from 
this that it could be trusted with other living animals, she 
allowed it access one day to some puppies, but these it proceeded 
to devour without delay. When she put it with an Irish terrier 
the two merely sniffed each other and parted, although the terrier 
would on ordinary occasions attack, and if possible kill, any wild 
animals—such as civets—it came across. ‘This incident has an 
interesting bearing upon the theory that the Ratel is protected 
by its scent from attacks by large carnivora, a protection with 
which is associated what is believed to be the warning characters 
of its coloration T. 
Unfortunately the animal died from a form of “ distemper,” 
probably contracted on the voyage, a few weeks after being 
deposited in the Gardens. Its anal stink-glands resembled in 
position those of Skunks (Mephitis) although smaller. There was 
a pair of them, each about the size of a thrush’s egg, opening 
upon a papilla or nipple, just within the anal orifice, and lying 
obliquely backwards deep in the surrounding tissue. The 
* See ‘Adventures in the Forest and the Field,’ by The Old Shekarry (H. A. 
Leveson), pp. 160-278. 
+ Pocock, P. Z. 8. 1908, pp. 949-951, 
26* 
