580 
NEW SPECIES OF CARNIVORA. 
# 
ROLLA, two-valved. INFLORESCENCE 
— Ament, ovate ; imbricated on all sides, 
FRUCTIFICATION— Seed, naked. 
GENUS, Schoenus, Schreh. PERI 
ANTH— Calyx, or corol. FULCRA AND 
ENVELOPES— Glumes, several. FRUC- 
TIFICATION — Seed, one naked. 
GENUS, Cyperus. PERIANTH— Co- 
ROLLA, none. FULCRA AND ENVE- 
LOPES — Glumes, chaffy ; bifariously im- 
bricated. FRUCTIFICATION— Seed, 
one, naked. 
GENUS, Scirpus. PERI ANTH— Corol- 
la, none. FULCRA AND ENVELOPES— 
Glumes, chaffy; imbricated on all sides. 
FRUCTIFICATION— Seed, one. 
{To he continued.) 
Art. VII. — Indication of a new genus of 
the Carnivora^ with description of the 
species on which it is founded. By 
B. H. Hodgson, Esq. Resident in 
Nepal. 
Asiatic Researches, or Transactions of 
the Society, for enquiring into the 
History, the Antiquities, the Arts, and 
Sciences, and Literature of Asia, vol. 
xix. 213. Calcutta, 1836. 
There are some important communica- 
tions in this volume, especially on the fossils 
found among the Sivalik hills, by Dr. 
Falconer and Capt. Cautley, and to which 
we alluded in a former number. We have 
only space this month to advert to one pa- 
per from Mr. Hodgson of Nepal, viz. indi- 
cation of a new genus of the carnivora, with 
description of the species on which it is 
founded. 
FAMILY CARNIVORA. TRIBE PLAN- 
TIGRADES. 
genus ursitaxus. mjhi. 
4 . 4 . 
Cheek Teeth of ursine flatness almost, 
hut musteline disposition f the tuber- 
cular of the upper jaw, smooth-crowned, 
• 1 hat IS, a disposition partially transverse, 
exhibited in the inner heel of the carnivorous 
tooth, and the whole body of the tuberculous 
one of the upper jaw. This arrangement of 
the teeth appears to be appendant to the true 
cutting type, and is not therefore developed 
in Ursus, or in other true plantigrades. A- 
mongst the digitigrades it is common, and 
particularly so in the mustelidae. 
harrow, parallelogrammic, and smaller 
than the Carnivorous : none in the lower 
jaw : two false molars above and three 
below on either side : general conforma- 
tion of the animal similar to that of the 
Badger, but wanting external eai'S : anal 
glands as in Mydaus. 
Remark. — The natural affinities of this 
Genus are with Ursus, Taxus, and My- 
daus ; but chiefly with Taxus. 
The single animal from which the above 
characters are drawn was procured by me 
in 1829, since which period I have in vain 
endeavoured to obtain another : and, as I 
see no immediate prospect of better success 
in my search, I shall not longer defer giv- 
ing such account of it as my materials en- 
able me to supply.* The specimen I ob- 
tained was a mature male. It was recently 
killed, but had had the intestines removed 
before it was brought to me from the vale 
of Muckwanpiir , at the southern base of the 
last mountainous range towards . India, 
whence I infer that its habitat is the hilly 
portion of the southern region of Nep&l. 
Species — Ursitaxus Inauritus. Ear-* 
less Ursitax, Mihi. 
See plate VI, figs. 2,3,4,5, 6,7. 
This is a low- legged unwieldy massive 
animal, with the general conformation and 
size of the Badger, from which, however, it 
differs most materially in its system of den- 
tition, and more obviously in the want of 
external ears, the harshness and scantiness 
of its single coat of hair, and the disposition 
and number of its palmary tubercles. 
The Earless Ursitax or Bear- Badger 
is thirty-two inches from the snout to 
the root of the tail, which is five inches 
long, or six and a half if measured with the 
terminal hair. The girth of its body, be- 
hind the shoulder, is twenty -nine inches, and 
the massiveness thence inferrible is main- 
tained uniformly throughout its proportions. 
It is purely plantigrade and fossorial, dwell- 
ing in burrows on the sou||iern slopes of 
the hills, and very seldom appearing abroad 
by day. The face, though not elongated, 
is conic and suddenly sharpened towards a 
neat, round, immobile, clearly defined, and 
ungrooved muzzle in which the nostrils are 
opened to the front, but have a narrow pro- 
longation to the sides. The lips are closely 
applied to the jaws and entirely void of 
mustachios ; nor are there any bristles on 
the cheeks, above the eyes, or on the chin ; 
the cheeks are full and fleshy; the head 
broad, and as much depressed almost as the 
® This animal is mentioned by the local name 
of Bharsiafi, in the catalogue of Nipalese viam- 
mals, ( 83-) ; and its peculiar dentition is 
therein summarily described. 
