Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/461

Rh CARNIVORA.J MAMMALIA 437 Ildogale, premolars f, contains two small South-African species, H. parvula and H. undulaia. Bdeogale contains also two small Ichneumon-like animals, B. crassicauda and puisa, differing from Herpestes proper in havin only four toes on each foot, both pollex and hallux being absent. The orbit is nearly complete, the tail of moderate length and rather bushy. Cynidis. Pollex present, but hallux absent. Skull shorter and broader than in Herpestes, rather contracted behind the orbits, which are large and complete behind. Face short. Anterior chamber of the auditory bulla very large. Front claws elongated. 0. penicillata, from South Africa. All the foregoing Herpestines have the nose short, with its under surface flat, bald, and with a median longitudinal groove. The remaining forms have the nose more or less produced, with its under side convex, and a space between the nostrils and the upper lip covered with close adpressed hairs, and without any median groove. Rhinogalc. Toes 5-5. Claws of fore feet short, compressed, acute. Under surface of tarsus hairy. Founded on a single specimen from East Africa, E. mclleri. Crossarchus. Dentition : i f, c |, p f , m ; total 36. Snout elongated. Toes 5-5. Claws on fore feet long and curved. Hallux very short. Under surface of tarsus naked. Tail shorter than the body, tapering. Fur harsh. Species : 0. obscurus, the Kusimanse, a small burrowing animal from West Africa, of uniform dark-brown colour; C. fasciatus ; C. zebra; C. gambianus. Suricata. A more distinct genus than any of the above. The dental formula as in the last, but the teeth of the molar series remarkably short in the antero-posterior direction, corresponding with the shortness of the skull generally. Orbits complete behind. Vertebra : C 7, D 15, L 6, S 3, C 20. Though the head is short and broad, the nose is pointed and rather produced and movable. Ears very short. Body shorter and limbs longer than in Herpestes. Toes 4-4, the pollex andhallux being absent. Claws onfore i eetvery long and narrow, arched, pointed, and subequal. Hind feet with much shorter claws, soles hairy. Tail rather shorter than the bod}. One species only is known, the Suricate, S. tetradadyla, a small grey- brown animal, with dark transverse stripes on the hinder part of the back, from South Africa. Galididis, Galidoa, and Ilcmigalidia are names of three slight generic modifications of the Viverrine type, allied to the Hcrpcs- tinae, but placed by Mivart in a distinct subfamily, Galididinse. They are all inhabitants of Madagascar. The best-known, Galidia degans, is a lively Squirrel-like little animal with soft fur and a long bushy tail, which climbs and jumps with agility. It is of a chestnut-brown colour, the tail being annulated with darker brown. Galididis vittata and striata chiefly differ from the Ichneumons in their coloration, being grey with parallel longitudinal stripes of dark brown. Eupleres is another form, also from Madagascar, which has been placed in a subfamily apart. It differs remarkably from all the other Vivcrridw in the weak development of the jaws and the small FIG. 118. Skull of Eupleres gouduti. | nut. size. Slus. Hoy. CoU. Surgeons. size of the teeth, in consequence of which it was, when first dis covered, placed inthe order Inscdivora. Dentition -if c f * m | = 40. Vertebras : C 7, D 13, L 7, S 3, C 20. But one spec ies is known, E. goudoti. Family No alisphenoid canal. Dorsal vertebrae 15. Molars}. Limited to the Old World. _ Subfamily Protelidee. Auditory bulla divided into two dis tinct chambers. Premolar and molar teeth very small and simple in character. This group contains but a single species, belonging to the genus Prattles, P cristatus, the Aard-Wolf or Earth-Wolf of the Dutch colonists of the Cape, an animal nearly allied to the Hyaenas but remarkably modified in its dentition, the molar teeth bein- very small placed far apart, and almost rudimentary in character (see L9). Ihe canines are long and rather slender. The dental formula is i ,c,p and m j^-^ ; total 30 or 32. Vertebra : C 7, D 15 L 5, S 2, C 24. The fore feet with five toes; the pollex, though short, with a distinct claw. The hind feet with four subequal toes. Claws all strong, blunt, subcompressed, and non- retractile. The general external appearance is very like that of a small striped Hyeena, but the muzzle is more pointed and the ears larger. It has a copious mane of long hair, capable of being FIG. 119. Skull and Dentition of Proteles cristatus. x 4. Mus. Koy. Coll. Surgeons. erected, when the animal is excited, along the middle line of the neck and back. It is a native of South Africa, and is a burrowing nocturnal animal, feeding on decomposing animal substances, larvae, and termites. Observations upon specimens in captivity indicate that it has neither inclination nor power to attack or fee_d upon living vertebrated animals. Subfamily Hyaenidee. Auditory bulla not divided by a septum into two chambers. Hyssna. Dentition : t f, c }, p f, m j=|; total 34. Teeth, especially canines and premolars, very large, strong, and conical. Upper sectorial with a very large, distinctly trilobed blade and a moderately developed inner lobe placed at the anterior extremity of the blade. Molar very small, and placed transversely close to the hinder edge of the last, as in the Fdidse. Lower sectorial consisting of little more than the bilobed blade. Zygomatic arches of cranium very wide and strong. Sagittal crest high, giving attachment to very powerful biting muscles. Orbits incomplete behind. Vertebrae : C 7, D 15, L 5, S 4, C 19. Limbs rather long, especially the anterior pair, digitigrade, four subequal toes on each, with stout non-retractile claws. Pollex and hallux only repre sented by rudimentary metacarpal and metatarsal bones. Tail rather short. A large post-anal median glandular pouch, into which the largely developed anal scent glands pour their secretion. The three existing species of Hyaena (see HYAENA) are divisible into two sections to which some zoologists assign generic rank. 1. Upper molar moderately developed and three-rooted. An inner tubercle and heel more or less developed on the lower molar. Ears large, pointed. Hair long, forming a mane on the back and shoulders. //. striata, the Striped Hyaena, of northern Africa and southern Asia. //. brunnca, of south Africa, in some respects intermediate between this and the next section. 2. Genus Crocuta. Upper molar extremely small, two- or one-rooted, often deciduous. Lower molar without trace of inner tubercle, and with an extremely small heel. Ears moderate, rounded. Hair not elongated to form a mane. //. crocuta or Orocuta maculata, the Spotted Hyaena, from Africa south of the Sahara. In dental characters the first section inclines more to the Viverridx, the second to the Fdidee. ; or the second may be considered as the more specialized form, as it certainly is in its visceral anatomy, especially in that of the reproductive organs of the female. 1 Extinct Hysenidie. Hyaenas abounded in Europe from the Upper Miocene to the Pleistocene epoch, and a series of transitional forms from ancient generalized types merging into Viverridse, as Idi- therium and Hyssnidis (with additional tubercular molars), leading by gradual modifications during successive geological ages to the species now existing, have been traced by Canary. The Cave Hyaena (//. spdsea), once so abundant in Britain and other parts of Europe, is scarcely distinguishable specifically from the existing H. crocuta of Africa ; and extinct forms found in France, described under the names of H. prixca and H. arvcrnensis, are probably the ancestors of H. striata. The existing H. brunnca seems to have preserved the characters of//, eximia of the Upper Miocene of Pikermi in Greece with little modification. There is at present no evidence of the existence of this group in America. Section CYNOIDEA. This section contains a single family, Canidse, or Dog-like animals, which appear to hold an intermediate position between the other two sections, retaining also many of the more generalized characters of the ancient members of the order. The structure of the auditory bulla and adjacent parts of the bones of the skull is 1 The anatomical peculiarities of Jlyxna crocuta, have been fully elucidated in a scries of papers by Morrison Watson, in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1877, 1878, 1879, and 1881, in which references to previous authors on the subject will be found.