58 MAMMALIA— ORDER IV.—CARNIVORA. 



under surface of the metatarsus • and the scent-pouch is apparently wanting, 

 Tlie limbs are slender ; and tliere is neither a dark line down the back, nor 

 a black gorget on the throat. Nearly allied to the civets are the six species 

 of genets (Genetta), five of which are exclusively African, while the ordinary 

 ■genet is common to Northern Africa, Southern Em ope, and Syria. From 

 both Viverra and Fossa they may be distinguished by the presence of a bare, 

 longitudinal strip along the Icjwer surface of the metatarsus ; a hairy space 

 dividing this naked strip from the foot-pads. The absence of a scent-pouch 

 forms a further distinction from Viverra, while the presence of a dark stripe 

 down the back constitutes another difference from Fossa. All the genets 

 are comparatively small animals, which live chiefly on the ground, where 

 they prey upon small rodents, b'rds, and eggs. None have a black gorget 

 on the throat, although there may ba a short crest of erectile hairs down the 

 back. 



The beautifully-coloured Oriental viverroids known as linsangs (Linsanga) 

 have the under surface of the tarsus and metatarsus as fully clothed with 

 hair as in the true civets, but differ in possessing only a single pair of upper 

 molar teeth. All the three species are very long-bodied and short-limbed 

 animals, with the claws of the five-toed feet almost as retractile as in the cats; 

 and the fur remarkably short, close, and erect, resembling, in fact, velvet- 

 pile. There are no scent-glands corresponding to those which yield the per- 

 fume in the civets. Upon a white or greyish-white ground-colour the fur 

 is beautifully marked with black or dark brown patches, such patches form- 

 ing either a small number of large, dark areas extending transversely across 

 the body, or being broken up into smaller quadrangle spots. Dark longi- 

 tudinal streaks, some of which may break up into spots, traverse the neck 

 and shoulders, while there are smaller ones on the head ; and the long 

 cylindrical is marked with alternate dark and light rings of considerable 

 length. When contracted, the pupil of the eye is circular. The skull and 

 teeth are very similar to those of the genets, but the heel of the lower 

 carnassial tooth is relatively smaller. In West Africa the linsangs are re- 

 presented by the closely allied Foiann poensis, distinguished by having a 

 naked strip on the under surface of the metatarsus, as in the genets. Lin- 

 sangs are good climbers, feeding chiefly on small birds. They produce two 

 litters in a year, giving birth to a pair of young at a time. 



The two Malayan species of Hemigale differ from all the preceding mem- 

 bers of the group except Fossa in the absence of distinct rings on the tail, 

 except, at most, near the root ; while they are further distinguished by the 

 front of the auditory bulla of the skull being pointed instead of blunt. The 

 carnassials are also relatively smaller and of a less trenchant type. A dis- 

 tinctive feature of the genus is the concentration of the pads of the hind-foot 

 to form a naked space on the metatarsus, ending in a sharp point behind ; 

 the tarsus being iully haired. The hair on the back of the neck is peculiar 

 in being directed forwards ; and when there are any dark markings on the 

 back they take the form of uninterrupted transverse bands. The claws on 

 the five-toed feet are strongly curved ; and the nose and upper lip, as in all 

 the preceding genera, are grooved. Numerically, the teeth are the same as 

 m Viverra. Hardwicke's hemigale (H. hardwickei), from the Malay Peninsula, 

 Sumatra, and Borneo, measures about 15.\ inches to the root of the tail, and has 

 dark transverse bands on the back ; whereas H. hosci, from the mountains of 

 North Borneo, is uniformly dusky. 



The palmciTCDS form three nearly allied genera, one of which is African, 



