45 6 
CARNIVORES. 
exclusively African species, the blotched genet ( G. tigrina ) ranges from the Cape 
to Abyssinia, the feline genet (G. felina ) is South African, while the remaining 
species (G. senegalensis and G. pardina) are from the west coast. Genets are 
easily tamed; and in the south of Europe the common species is often kept in 
houses for the purpose of killing rats and mice. 
The Linsangs. 
Genera Linsang and Poiana. 
The most beautifully coloured of the civet-like animals are the linsangs, of 
which there are three nearly allied Oriental species, and a fourth from Africa. All 
the linsangs—the name would seem to be of Malayan derivation—are characterised 
by their very long and slender bodies, the shortness of their limbs, the elongation 
of the head and neck, and the extreme length of the tail, which may exceed that 
of the head and body together. The claws can be completely withdrawn within 
their sheaths; the whole of the soles of the feet are generally hairy; and there is 
no scent-pouch. The fur is characterised by its shortness and softness, and is very 
thick, so that the skin is almost like velvet pile. The ground-colour of the fur is 
some shade of fulvous, marked with bold black spots or patches; the long tail 
being ringed with black. On account of their striking and handsome coloration, 
the name of tiger-civets has been suggested for these animals. An examination 
of the skull will show that instead of the forty teeth found in the true civets 
and genets, they have only thirty-eight; this diminution being due to the loss of 
the second upper molar, so that there is but one tooth behind the flesh-tooth of the 
upper jaw instead of the two shown in the figure on p. 449. 
They are all carnivorous, but it is suggested that some of them may also 
feed on insects. The Asiatic linsangs are characterised by the large size of 
their spots, which frequently form squarish patches, tending to form transverse 
bands. These species constitute the genus Linsang. 1 The one African linsang, on 
the other hand, has smaller spots, which have no tendency to run into bands over 
the greater part of the body. It has also a naked line running up the sole of the 
hind-foot, as in the genets. From these slight differences this animal has been 
made the type of a separate genus— Poiana. 
The earliest known of these animals was the Javan linsang ( Linsang 
gracilis), from Java, Borneo, and perhaps Sumatra, shown as the upper figure of 
our coloured Plate. It is the smallest of the linsangs, with a coloration similar to 
that of the next species, but with a different kind of skull. 
The Burmese linsang ( L. maculosus), which is the largest, and perhaps the 
handsomest, of the group, appears to be a rare animal, and is at present known 
only by two specimens, one obtained from near Moulmein, and the other in South 
Tenasserim. It is represented in the lower figure of the Plate. The tail is 
slightly shorter than the head and body; the length of the two latter being about 
19 inches, and that of the former (including the hair at the tip) just under 17 
1 The name Prionodon is generally used in this sense, but it clashes with a nearly similar name applied to an 
armadillo. 
