MAMMALS-MELINAE-MEPHITIS. 
191 
MEPHITIS, Cuvier. 
Mephitis, Cuvier, “ Leqons d’Anat. I, 1800.” 
Body elongated ; nose pointed ; feet fossorial, the anterior claws longest, soles usually naked ; tail long, bushy; upper pos¬ 
terior molar very large and nearly square. Color black, with white markings. 
In the above diagnosis are indicated enough of the peculiarities of this genus to separate it 
from its allies ; there are, however, many other points to he referred to in anything like a full 
statement of its distinguishing features. That by which the skunks are best known, namely, 
the ineifably offensive odor of the secretion of the anal glands is shared, though in a less 
degree, by nearly all the Mustelidae. 
The body of the skunks is considerably more slender than in the badgers, their nearest allies, 
and the long and densely haired tail, with the prevalent black color, varied by white stripes or 
spots on the upper parts, in addition, readily distinguish them. The caudal hairs are very 
thick, weak, and brittle, with somewhat the texture of antelope or deer hair ; their attachment 
to the skin is very slight, especially those at the terminal portion. The tip of the tail is some¬ 
times occupied by a rather slender tuft of hairs, inserted in the midst of the more bushy termi¬ 
nation, and appearing to have but little connexion with it. 
The head is quite small in proportion to the body, pointed, with a naked, acute, and pro¬ 
jecting nose ; the eyes are small and piercing, the ears short and rounded. The feet are short, 
each with five closely united toes, with long claws ; the anterior longest, sharp, compressed, 
and not much curved ; eminently fossorial. The palms are naked ; the soles are naked, except 
about on the posterior third from the heel, which is hairy ; in one species, ( M . mesomelas,) the 
entire sole is, however, hairy. 
These animals usually walk on the greater part of the soles, with the back much curved, the 
tail erect. They are strictly nocturnal; the food consists chiefly of animal substances. 
The offensive liquid of the skunks, the foetid smell of which has passed into a proverb, is 
secreted by two glands which empty directly into the rectum, and are enveloped in a thick mus¬ 
cular membrane, the contraction of which causes the ejection of the fluid to a considerable 
distance. This, when first discharged, is said to be quite phosphorescent at night. A very 
slight degree of irritation is sufficient to cause the emission of the liquid, which, it is said, 
may, however, be restrained by holding the animal up by the tail. 
The dental formula of most species of Mephitis is similar to that of Putorius, viz: incisors 
canines premolars molars ^ ^ = 34. In the sub-genus Thiosmus, however, 
one upper anterior premolar is wanting, reducing the number to 32. The genus may at once 
be readily distinguished from the weasels by the large size of the posterior upper molar, which 
is nearly square, quadrituberculate, as broad as long, and as long or longer than the sectorial 
tooth anterior to it. The internal tubercle of this tooth is very greatly developed, so that the 
crown is triangular. The lower sectorial molar (first true molar) has almost lost this carnivo¬ 
rous character, owing to the development of tubercles, three on the inner border, two on the 
outer, and one behind. 
There appear to be two very well marked divisions, as established by Lichtenstein, in the 
following diagnoses: 
Thiosmus. —Upper incisors linear, the outer stronger and longer than the intermediate ones ; 
