112 MR. R. LYDEKKER ON A NEW [Feb. 6, 



6. On a Central African Ratel and Water-Clievrotai'n. 

 By E,. Lydekker. 



[Received January 6, 1906.] 

 (Plate VII.*) 



I have lately been favoured with the opportunity of inspecting 

 a number of skins and skulls of mammals collected by Major 

 Powell-Cotton in Central Africa, among which two appeared 

 worthy of bringing under the notice of the Society. In a letter 

 sent to Mr. Rowland Ward referi-ing to the lociilities of the 

 specimens, Major Powell -Cotton states that they were all obtained 

 on the " eastern fringe of the Ituri Forest to a point fifteen miles 

 west of Mawampi and thence south-east to Boni, at elevations of 

 between 2100 and 2950 feet above sea-level." 



The first specimen I have to bring to notice is an entii'ely black 

 Ratel, represented by the skin and slcull. The ordinary colouring of 

 the Ratels — grey above and black beneath — is so chai-acteristic not 

 only of both the African and Indian representixtives of the group, 

 but also of various allied mustelines, such as the African Zorilla and 

 Pcecilogale and the American Galictis, that it can scarcely be re- 

 garded otherwise than as a deeply ingi'ained attribute of the species 

 in which it occurs, and one connected in some special manner with 

 protective adaptation. Any departure from this type of colouring 

 in animals of the group in question — unless, indeed, it were a mere 

 instance of melanism — would seem therefore to imply an important 

 modification in habits or surroundings. Now — although I have 

 no justification for saying that the present specimen may not come 

 under the category of a mere individual melanism — the conditions 

 prevalent in the great Ituri Forest are manifestly very different 

 from those of the open or bush-clad country in which Ratels are 

 commonly found ; and they are, moreover, just the conditions which 

 are conducive to the development of blackness in a species. 

 Accordingly I venture to consider that Major Powell- Cotton's black 

 Ratel very probably represents a distinct species, for which the 

 name Mellivora cottoni may be suggested. 



An all-pervading blackness, save for a few grizzly or tawny 

 hairs on the upper part of the head, must be regarded as the sole 

 distinctive characteristic of the species, as I can find no points in 

 which the skull can be distinguished fi^omthatof the ordi nay grey 

 and black African Ratel. Not that this is a matter for wonder, 

 since, so far as I am aware, it is almost impossible to distinguish 

 Indian from African Ratels by their skulls alone, or the fossil 

 Siwalik species from its living Indian representative. In colour, 

 length, and texture of hair the black Ituri Ratel may be likened to 

 a Himalayan Black Bear. If the animal dwells in constant shade, 

 the reason of its departure may not be far to seek, as I have little 

 doubt that the greyness of the upper parts of ordinai-y Ratels is 

 in some way connected with the play of sunlight upon this 

 aspect. The specimen is represented in Plate VIT. 

 * For explanation of the Plate, see p. 113. 



