GENETTA. 
187 
GENETTA. 
Genetta, Cuvier, Regne Animal, vol. i. 1817, p. 156. 
Ihe Genets have semi-retractile claws and the same number of teeth as the Civets, 
but are distinguished by their more elongated form, more plantigrade mode of 
progression, and more arboreal habits. The hind feet have a naked area in the centre 
between the toes and the heel. The external scent-pouch is wanting. 
Great uncertainty exists as to the number of species into which the Genets should be 
divided, and until far more specimens with authentic data are brought together nothing 
can be done to settle this question. Broadly speaking, there are three well-marked 
forms, defined by characters of the skull and teeth — G. gencttcL, Linn., inhabiting 
Southern Spain and Africa north of the Sahara; G. ticjvino.^ Schreber, inhabiting 
Southern Africa; and G. senegalensis, Fischer ( = 6^. ;pardina, Is. Geoffroy St.-H.), 
found over the whole of tropical Africa. This latter species has numerous local 
laces, and the genet of Upper Egypt [G. dongolana\ and also the Abyssinian genet 
(tr. ahyssmica), described below, belong to this group. In some localities there seem 
to be individuals of widely different tones of colour and patterns of marking, but 
differences of sex, seasonal change of fur, and other important influences have yet to 
be properly understood. 
Ihe black dorsal line is composed of rather stiffer and more glossy hair than the rest 
of the body. The hairs composing this line may be very considerably longer than the 
surrounding fur; the under-fur, when present on this area, is only scanty, and likewise 
jet-black. At certain periods, however, the hair on this dorsal line is glossy, adpressed, 
and much shorter than the surrounding fur, with no trace of under-fur. 
Ihe median dorsal stripe in the Nile-Valley species is more distinct from the body- 
fur, in coloui and tf^xture, than in any of the other forms of genet, and the general 
colour of the animal seems to be fairly constant. 
The skull is considerably narrower than that of G. genetta, the nasals shorter and 
narrower, being especially more tapered posteriorly, the auditory bullm slightly more 
inflated, the paroccipital processes short and entirely absorbed in the back wall of the 
bullae. I here is a very small bony prominence on the posterior border of the coronoid 
process of the mandible. 
In G. genetta^ of Spain and North Africa, the hair is harsh, both dorsal and side 
stripes black, many stripes on the neck, the spots small, the tail banded with narrow 
indistinct rings. Ihe skull is long, the nasals rather broad, but narrowing slightly 
posteiiorly, the auditory bullae moderately inflated; the paroccipital processes reaching 
to the base of the bullae, the extreme end of this process free or forming a roughened 
knob. Iheie is a well-marked small process on the posterior border of the coronoid 
process of the mandible. If a genet occurs in Lower Egypt it will almost certainly 
prove to belong to this species. 
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