EXTERNAL CHARACTERS OF THE RATEL AND WOLVERENE. 



179 



14. On the External Characters o£ the Ratcl (Mellivora) 

 and the Wolverene ( Gulo) *. Bv U. I. PocoCK, F.R.S., 

 F.Z.S. 



[Received April 13, 1920 : Read April 13, 1920.] 

 (Text-figures 14-18.) 



Contents. Paf?e 



Introduction 179 



External form 181 



The Head 181 



The Feet 182 



The Anus and the External Genitalia 18-1 



Conclusion 187 



lutrodiiction. 



Writing on Mellivora in 1902 (Zool. of Egypt, Mammalia, 

 p. 245), de Winton remarked : — " A glance at the generic names 

 mentioned in the synonymy of the African species will show that 

 great uncertainty has existed as to the true relationship of the 

 animal. Even in the latest text-books it has been placed among 

 the badgers, while in truth it is nothing but a giant weasel 

 modified for digging and quite closely related to Ictonyx^ 



Without admitting the truth of the last proposition, it is 

 unquestionably the case that the majority of authors, judging 

 from the structure of the feet and the general form of the body, 

 follow^ed Gray in classifying Mellivora in the group, family, or 

 subfamily, as the case may be, typified hy Meles. De Winton, on 

 the contrary, rejecting the external characters and relying upon 

 the teeth and skull, placed it in the subfamily Mustelinje, which 

 comprised the following genera : — Mephitis, Conepatus, Galera, 

 Galictis, Mellivora, Ictonyx, Mustela (now Martes), Putorius (now 

 Mustela), Pcecilogale^ Lyncodon, and Gulo t- It would have been 

 ver}^ difiicult to define the Mustelinjie, as thus constituted, and 

 de Winton, perhaps wisely, made no attempt to do so. That 

 question does not concern me now. The point to which attention 

 may be drawn is the placing of Mellivora in the same group as 

 Gido. 



Although no authors appear to be very clear about the precise 

 position of Gulo, its kinship with Mustela and Maries has been 

 generally admitted. The latest opinion on the subject is that of 

 Mr. G. S. Miller, who proposed to make it the type of a distinct 

 subfamily, Gulonin?e, equivalent to the Mustelinje, Melina?, and 

 Lutrinae, these four subfamilies comprising the genera of 

 Mustelidae of Western Europe (Cat. Mamm. Western Europe, 

 pp. 341 and 432, 1912). 



* The facts recorded were based upon the examination of fresh material in the 

 Societ3''s Prosectorium. 



t VVeber (Die Saug. p. 537, 1904) followed de Winton in classifying 3Iellivora 

 and Gulo in the Mustelina?. 



12* 



