*! 
1 
' u 
’ ; Ac. 
Genus CONEPATUS J. E. Gray (1837).^ 
"Teeth normally 32; pm. , sometimes, however, ?__?■ , from 
o-o 3-3 
presence of an additional minute premolar, corresponding to the 
anterior one of Mephiti s. Dorsal outline of skull one continuous 
curve, more or less regular, from occipital protuberance to ends of 
premaxillaries, owing to the great obliquity of truncation of the 
end of the rostrum, which brings the profile of nasal orifice into 
line with that of the forehead; skull highest in parietal region. 
Palate produced decidedly past the last molars, yet not half-way to 
ends of pterygoids. Periotic region much as in Mephitis proper, 
but the raastoids rather as in Spilogale, projecting more downward 
than outward. Postorbital process usually obsolete. Zygomata 
slightly arched upward. Coronoid process of jaw sloping backward, 
obtusely falcate, with convex anterior and concave posterior margin, 
the apex nearly overtopping condyle. Angle of the mandible strongly 
exflected. Of large size, extremely stout form, and somewhat Badger¬ 
like appearance. Snout strongly produced, depressed. Nostrils in¬ 
ferior. Tail short and little bushy (for this family). Soles 
very broad, entirely naked. Coloration massed in large areas. 
South, Middle, and (scarcely) North American." ( Elliott Cou es .) 
One species of this genus is found on the boundary line, rang¬ 
ing from Rockport and Brownsville, on the Gulf coast, west as far 
as La Osa, Arizona. Ten skins and about twice that number of skulls 
* 
Charlesworth's Magazine of Natural History, I, 1837, p. 581. 
