AARD-WOLF. 
479 
or canines, are not longer than the front teeth, and the flesh-tooth is scarcely dis¬ 
tinguishable from the adjacent teeth. The length of the head and body of the eupleres 
is about 19§ inches, the tail being about one-third of this length. The body is covered 
with a uniformly-coloured woolly fur, of which the general tint is olive,finely speckled 
with yellow; this speckled appearance being due to the individual hairs being 
banded with differently-coloured rings. The ears are large, the short tail is bushy, 
the feet, which are furnished with five toes, are remarkable for their extreme 
slenderness, and the claws are long and like those of the mungooses. In the young 
eupleres the fur of the shoulders has black transverse stripes. It does not appear 
that anything is known of the habits of this rare, and doubtless nocturnal, creature, 
but the weakness of its teeth and jaws suggests that its food consists rather of 
insects than of flesh. 
Extinct Civet-like Animals. 
It has been mentioned, under the heading of the true civets, that remains of 
species belonging to that group are found low down in the Tertiary series of Europe. 
It may be added here that remains of mungooses, which have been referred to the 
typical genus Herpestes, are also found in these same upper Eocene and lower 
Miocene rocks of France. There also occur the bones and teeth of other animals 
more nearly allied to the linsangs; while others, again, appear to connect the civets 
with the w r easels—a connection which would have been wholly unsuspected if 
science had only existing animals to deal with. In a later geological epoch— 
namely, the lower part of the Pliocene—there occurs another interesting type 
known as the ictithere, which serves so completely to connect the civets with 
the hyaenas as to prove conclusively the close alliance of these two families of 
Carnivores. Before, however, proceeding to the hyaenas, we must first take into 
consideration 
The Aard-Wolf. 
Family PnoTELEIDJE. 
Genus Proteles. 
The remarkable creature known to the Dutch boers of South Africa as the 
aard-wolf is one of those animals which have long been a puzzle to zoologists. 
It is evidently allied in many respects to the hyaenas, but in others it is so 
different that it becomes a matter of exceeding difficulty to decide if it should 
be included in the same family. The majority of English zoologists appear, 
however, to be inclined to regard the aard-wolf (Proteles cristatus ) as the solitary 
representative of a distinct family. 
In size it has been compared to a large and “ leggy ” fox; while, in external 
appearance, the aard-wolf (which is known to the Kaffirs as the isidawane) some¬ 
what resembles a rather small and thin-bodied striped hyaena, but it has longer 
ears and a more pointed muzzle. The fur, which is inclined to be shaggy and 
of a woolly nature, is of a yellowish or reddish-brown colour, marked with 
about half a dozen transverse black stripes on the sides of the body; and there 
