MAMMALS-MELIJfAE-TAXIDEA. 
201 
TAXIDEA, Waterhouse. 
Taxidea, Waterhouse, Pr. Zool. Sec. Lond. VT, 1838, 154.— Ib. Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond. II, 1841, 343. 
Body stout, robust, depressed. Tail very short. Fore claws much largest; very fossorial. Posterior upper molar very large, 
sub-triangular. Skull wedge-shaped. 
Incisors canines premolars j^|, (including the upper sectorial,) molars (including 
lower sectorial,) = 32. In young specimens there is an additional premolar, (first,) which soon 
disappears ; this will add 1—1 premolar to the lower jaw, making 34 in all. 
The third premolar with two tubercles ; the sectorial of the upper jaw and the molar behind 
it very large, triangular and nearly equal. Body stout, depressed; tail short; ears short, 
pointed ; muffle hairy above. Fore claws much larger than hinder ; very fossorial. 
The genus Taxidea , is peculiar to North America, and at present embraces two species—one 
inhabiting Mexico, the other the western United States and British America. It was first 
established by Waterhouse on skulls taken from skins brought from Mexico or California, and 
erroneously supposed to be the same with those from British America. His descriptions and 
figure, therefore, will be understood as having reference, probably, to T. berlandieri rather than 
to T. americana. 
This genus is so strikingly different from Meles as to render it a matter of astonishment that 
the typical species were ever combined. The discovery cf a second species in Mexico, agreeing 
in all essential generic features with the boreal species, is an additional confirmation of the pro¬ 
priety of separating the two genera. 
The most striking peculiarity of Taxidea consists in the great expanse of the occipital region, 
the width of the occiput being equal to that of the skull, measured between the outer surfaces 
of the zygomatic arches. Thus the general shape is that of a depressed wedge, widest behind 
and truncated anteriorly, instead of being very much widest across the zygomatic arches, as in 
Meles. The skull of Meles, indeed, resembles in general shape much more that of Procyon than 
Taxidea, its occipital region being low, and the outline rising thence, instead of being highest 
very near the occiput. The occipital crests are well developed in Taxidea, the sagittal very 
moderate. 
The auditory bullm are very large and convex. The processes of the glenoid cavity are not 
so well developed as in Meles, though occasionally sufficiently developed to lock the condyles of 
the lower jaw. The coronoid process has its apex pointed instead of rounded or truncated ; its 
posterior margin is formed by two lines, the lower rising nearly perpendicularly a little in 
advance of the condylej the other rather longer than the first, making a very obtuse angle 
with it. 
The differences in the character of the teeth are equally striking, though their number is the 
same. The penultimate, or sectorial upper molar is very large and triangular ; fully equal in 
size to the last molar, instead of being much smaller ; it has likewise a large tubercle on the 
inner lobe, scarcely observable in Meles. The last molar is also triangular, (nearly right- 
angled,) somewhat resembling half the quadrilateral tooth of Meles. 
In the lower jaw the last premolar is larger than in Meles, and has two tubercles. The penul¬ 
timate molar is smaller and not dilated behind ; the portion of its crown which is applied 
against the upper sectorial molar is larger than that in contact with the last upper molar, 
instead of being smaller, as in Meles. 
26 L 
