14. AONYX. 109 



tt Feet oblong, rather elongate; toes rather slender, free at the end, blimth/ 

 or imperfectly clawed; pads of palms large, of toes slender, separate. 



14. AONYX. 



Muzzle bald, oblong, transverse; upper and lower edge nearly 

 straight. Toes half webbed, index and middle united together to 

 the third joint ; claws obsolete or rudimentary and blunt ; the inner 

 toe very short, index longer, middle and fourth longest and equal, 

 the fifth shorter than the index. SkuU rather short, ventricose, and 

 convex behind ; nose short ; forehead convex, arched ; orbit defined 

 by distinct conical tubercles above and below. Plesh-tooth with a 

 very large internal lobe, nearly as long as the outer portion of the 

 tooth, with two cross ridges on the crown ; the upper tubercular 

 grinder large, massive, rather wider than long. 



The flesh-tooth of the Aonyx is larger and wider than in the Otters 

 with weU-developed claws. The outer margin of the tooth is pro- 

 duced outwards beyond the edge of the jaw, and furnished with a 

 distinct margin. 



Aonyx, Lesson, Man. p. 157 ; Gray, Loudon's Mag. N. H. 1857, p. 650 ; 



P. Z. S. 1865, p. 129. 

 Leptonyx, Lesson. 

 Anahyster, A. Murray, Proe. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edinb. i. p. 157 (ftom. 



skiul only). 



* African. Claws very rudimentary. Anahyster. 



1. Aonyx Lalandii. B.M. 



Brown, beneath paler ; sides of the face, to the orbits and ears, 

 throat, chin, and chest yellowish, divided from the darker colour by 

 a defined line ; shoulders and fore legs darker. 



Very young animals are greyish white ; the cheeks, chin, throat, 

 and cheat white ; the shoulders browner. 



Lutra inunguis, F. Cuv. Diet, Sci. Nat. xxvii. p. 248 ; Blainv. OstSogr. 



Mustek, t. 8 (skull). 

 Lutra (Aonyx) inunguis, Fischer, Syn. p. 228. 

 Aonyx inunguis, Gerrard, Cat. Bones B. M. p. 101. 

 ' Aonyx Lalandii, Lesson, Man. i. p. 57 ; Gray, Cat. Mamm. B. M. 



p. 71 ; Am. §■ Mag. JV. JS. 1837, p. 119 ; P. Z. S. 1865, p. 129. 

 Lutra capensis, Schinz, Cm. Thierr. 1. 1. 214. 

 Var.P Anahyster calabaricus, A. Murray, Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edinb. 



p. 157 (skull, B.M.). 

 Lutra gambianus, Gray, Cat. Mamm. B. M. p. Ill (skull, B.M.). 



Hah. South Africa, in rivers and lakes ; Cape of Good Hope {A. 

 Smith) ; Mossambique {Peters). 



L. poensis, Waterhouse, P. Z. S. 1838, p. 60 (" Shining brown ; 

 chest, chin, and throat fulvescent ; tail half as long as the animal ; 

 muzzle bare "), from Fernando Po, described from a skin without 

 feet, which is no longer to be found, is perhaps the same as the 

 former." 



