82 
CARNIVORES. 
Distribution. 
muzzle, together with the under-parts of the head, body, and tail, and the entire 
limbs, are black; while the upper portion of the head, body, and fore-half of the 
tail are whitish grey. 
The skulls of the ratels may be distinguished by the small number of the 
large and powerful teeth. The total number is only 32, there being but three 
pairs of premolar teeth in each jaw, and no tubercular 
molar in the lower jaw behind the flesh-tooth. The upper 
teeth, as shown in the figure of the palate of a fossil 
species, are characterised by the molar (m) being very 
narrow from front to back, and of the characteristic 
musteline dumb-bell-shape; and also by the flesh-tooth, or 
fourth premolar (p.4), being larger than the molar, with 
the tubercle on the inner side placed near the front edge. 
Moreover, in the lower jaw, the flesh-tooth has a very 
minute heel at its hinder end. The ratels may be com¬ 
pared in size to a badger, the length of the head and body 
of the Indian species varying from about 26 to 32 inches, and 
that of the tail, inclusive of the hair, from 6 to 6| inches. 
The Indian ratel (Mellivora indica ) is 
found from the Himalaya to Cape Comorin, 
but is unknown in Ceylon or to the eastwards of the Bay 
of Bengal. The African species ( M ’ ratel ) occurs through¬ 
out Africa, but more especially in the southern and western 
parts of the continent. Mr. Blanford has some doubts as 
molar tooth ; pA, fourth to whether the African and Indian ratels are really entitled 
to be regarded as distinct species; but the former, as shown 
in our illustration on page 81, is distinguished by the 
presence of a well-marked white line dividing the dark area of the under-parts 
from the grey of the back. 
Both species are strictly nocturnal in their habits, and reside 
during the day in burrows, which are probably excavated by them¬ 
selves. The Indian species is most commonly met with in hilly regions, or along 
the high-scarped banks of the great rivers, which afford good situations in which 
to construct its burrows. Ratels generally go about in pairs, and feed on rats, 
birds, frogs, insects, and honey; while in cultivated districts they commit frequent 
raids on poultry. The accusation of digging up corpses from graveyards, which 
has earned for the Indian species the name of “ Gravedigger ” among Anglo-Indians, 
is, according to Mr. Blanford, probably unfounded. The African species exhibits 
a very strongly-marked taste for honey, together with the larvae of bees in the 
combs; digging out the latter from hollow trees by the aid of its powerful front 
claws. The account given by Sparrmann of the ratels mode of operations when 
about to attack a bees’ nest is not, however, to be wholly relied upon, since it is 
largely drawn from native sources of information. 
In captivity ratels are easily tamed, and frequently exhibit a peculiar habit 
of turning complete somersaults each time they walk up and down the cages in 
which they are confined. 
THE RIGHT HALF OF THE 
PALATE OF THE FOSSIL 
INDIAN RATEL. 
m. 
premolar, or flesh-tooth; c. 
canine tooth, or tusk (broken). 
Habits. 
