The Cambridge Natural History Part 32

The genus _Machaerodus_ itself, which appears to include _Smilodon_, is referred by Cope to the true Cats, and not to the Nimravidae, as he terms the family which we have called here the Machaerodontidae. These creatures are known as "Sabre-toothed Tigers," and were of very wide distribution, occurring in South America as well as in Europe and North America. "As nothing," remarks Professor Cope, "but the characters of the canine teeth distinguished these from typical felines, it is to these that we must look for the cause of their failure to continue. Professor Flower's suggestion appears to be a good one, viz. that the length of these teeth became an inconvenience and a hindrance to their possessors. I think there can be no doubt that the huge canines in the Smilodons must have prevented the biting off of flesh from large pieces, so as to greatly interfere with feeding, and to keep the animals in poor condition. The size of the canines is such as to prevent their use as cutting instruments excepting with the mouth closed; for the latter could not have been opened sufficiently to allow any object to enter it from the front. Even when it opens so far as to allow the mandible to pa.s.s behind the apices of the canines, there would appear to be some risk of the latter being caught on the point of one or the other canine, and forced to remain open, causing early starvation. Such may have been the fate of the fine individual of the _S. neogaeus_, Lund, whose skull was found in Brazil by Lund, and which is familiar to us through the figures of de Blainville."

_Machaerodus_ is placed among the Felidae on account of the fact that the condyloid and carotid foramina unite with the foramen lacerum posterius.

But as in at least one species, _M. palmidens_, there is an alisphenoid ca.n.a.l, which, however, has disappeared in the more recent American forms, it seems permissible to retain the genus in the family Machaerodontidae though its existence reduces the differential character of that family to a minimum. The genus goes back to the Eocene. {403}

FAM. 3. VIVERRIDAE.--The Civets, Genets, and their kind differ from the Cats in a number of points. They form, however, by no means so uniform an a.s.semblage as do the Cats; so that the difficulty is, as Dr. Mivart has remarked, not to divide them into sub-families, but to avoid making too many. But before proceeding to subdivide the family we shall describe the characters of the family and contrast them with those of the Felidae.

All the Viverridae are comparatively small creatures. The head and body are more elongate than in the Cats. The fingers and toes are generally five; but there are some (e.g. _Cynictis_) where the formula of the toes is as in the Cats, _i.e._ four on the hind-foot. In the Suricate the fingers are also reduced to four. The claws are perhaps never completely retractile,[276] and often are not at all so. The dental formulae of the genera differ considerably; but in the majority there are more teeth than in the Felidae. The well-known sharp-pointed, conical papillae of the Cat's tongue are not present. The majority have a scent gland beneath the tail, from which the perfume civet is derived. There are a number of osteological characters which differentiate the two families; thus the alisphenoid ca.n.a.l is sometimes present. The bulla is divided, as in the Cats, but is externally constricted.

It seems clear from some at any rate of the characters, _i.e._ the more complete dent.i.tion, the five-fingered hands and feet, the non-retractile claws, etc., that the Civets are on a lower level of specialisation than are the Cats.

SUB-FAM. 1. EUPLERINAE.--The genus _Eupleres_ is in many ways the most aberrant type of Viverrid, and is placed in a sub-family, Euplerinae. Its salient feature is the very peculiar dent.i.tion: peculiar in the small size of the canines, the canine-like character of the anterior premolars, and the resemblance of the premolars to molars. In some of the characters of the teeth, _Eupleres_ is Insectivore-like, and was formerly grouped with that family. There are four premolars and two molars in each jaw on each side. It has five toes upon both fore- and hind-limbs; the skull is very slender. It has no alisphenoid ca.n.a.l. The only species, _E. goudotii_, is of an olive-grey colour, with dark bands across the shoulders in the young.

The nose and upper lip are grooved. There are no scent glands. It appears to burrow in the ground, and possibly contents itself with a diet of worms.

_Eupleres_ is a {404} native of Madagascar, where all the most peculiar Viverridae live.

SUB-FAM. 2. GALIDICTIINAE.--Mivart has placed in this sub-family the three Mascarene genera, _Galidia_, _Hemigalidia_, and _Galidictis_. In them the orbit is not enclosed by bone; there is no alisphenoid ca.n.a.l, and there are five toes and fingers.

_Galidia_ consists of but one species, _G. elegans_, of a chestnut brown colour, with a tail ringed with black. The claws are not retractile. The scent gland is absent. There are five digits upon both hand and foot. There are three premolars and two molars on each side of each jaw. The caec.u.m is (for an Aeluroid) long, and pointed at the apex; it is quite twice the length of that of _Genetta_.

Closely allied to _Galidia_ is the genus _Hemigalidia_, of which there are two species. It is distinguished from the last genus by the non-annulated tail. It also differs in the dental formula, which is for the molars Pm 4/3 M 2/1. This animal is termed by Buffon the Vansire. He correctly enumerates its grinders, and distinguishes it from the Ferret!

_Galidictis_ is a third genus from Madagascar containing two species, one of which has been unfortunately named _G. vittata_, leading perhaps to some confusion with the totally distinct _Galictis vittata_. As in the last two genera the digits are five. The dental formula is that of _Galidia_. It is distinguished from the other two genera of its sub-family by the longitudinal brown striping of the upper part of the greyish body.

SUB-FAM. 3. CRYPTOPROCTINAE.--_Cryptoprocta_[277] represents a special sub-family, Cryptoproctinae, and includes only a single species, the Fossa (_C. ferox_) of Madagascar. It is the largest Carnivore of Madagascar, being about twice the size of a Cat, but with an elongated body; the colour is a tawny brown with no striping. The animal is active and lithe in its motions, and is said to be of almost unexampled ferocity in disposition.

Its exact systematic position has been much discussed. By Zittel it is placed in a sub-family (including the extinct _Proaelurus_ and _Pseudaelurus_) of the Felidae. Mivart and Lydekker, on the other hand, regard it as a genus of the Viverridae. The dental formula of the molars, Pm 3/3 M 1/1, is {405} more like that of the _Felidae_ than of the _Viverridae_, and the teeth are more Feline in structure. The claws of the feet are retractile. As to internal structure the Fossa agrees largely with the Viverridae, but then this family has no very marked points of difference from the Felidae; but where the anatomy does diverge from that of the Felidae it approaches the Viverridae, especially in the muscular system.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

FIG. 199.--Fossa. _Cryptoprocta ferox._ 1/6.

The remaining and by far the larger number of genera of Civets are grouped by Professor Mivart in two sub-families: the VIVERRINAE, including the genera _Viverra_, _Viverricula_, _Fossa_, _Genetta_, _Prionodon_, _Poiana_, _Paradoxurus_, _Arctogale_, _Hemigale_, _Arctictis_, _Nandinia_, and _Cynogale_; and the HERPESTINAE, including the genera _Herpestes_, _Helogale_, _Cynictis_, and probably _Bdeogale_ and _Rhynchogale_. In the Viverrinae the digits are always five, the claws are more or less retractile, the prescrotal scent glands are usually present, and the a.n.u.s does not open into a sac. On the other hand, the Herpestinae are characterised by the non-retractility of the claws, the absence of the glands in question, and the fact that the a.n.u.s does open into a terminal sac.

SUB-FAM. 4. VIVERRINAE.--_Viverra_ includes the true Civets. The genus, save for one African species, is Oriental in range. The molar formula is the complete one for the Viverridae, viz. {406} Pm 4/4 M 2/2. The secretion of the prescrotal gland of _V. civetta_ yields the civet of commerce.

The "Ra.s.se," genus _Viverricula_, has been separated generically from the true Civets. It is, remarkably enough, common to both Madagascar[278] and many parts of the Oriental region. It is, moreover, capable of climbing trees, which its relatives are not. It has no mane like _Viverra_ and is of slighter build.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

FIG. 200.--Civet Cat. _Viverra civetta._ 1/6.

_Prionodon_ or _Linsang_ differs from the last two genera in the loss of an upper molar. It thus approaches the Cats, with which it also agrees in the furry feet. It is a purely Oriental genus. It also resembles the Cats in that the claws are apparently quite retractile, a feature not common among the group. There are three species of the genus. _P. pardicolor_ has large black spots and a ringed tail. Its body is some 15 inches in length. Dr.

Mivart has commented upon the particularly small caec.u.m, which, like that of _Arctictis_, seems to be on the verge of disappearance.

_Genetta_, including the Genets, is almost purely African. It has the full tooth formula of _Viverra_; but is to be distinguished by the absence of a scent pouch, and by a naked strip of skin running up the metatarsus. These animals are all brownish yellowish to greyish with darker spots. The Common Genet, _G. vulgaris_, is South European, and just gets into Asia; it is also North African. The Genet, an animal "with an appet.i.te for petty carnage," is one of those smaller Carnivora which are possibly to be regarded as meant by the word [Greek: gale], and appear to have "functioned" as Cats among the Greeks. So recently as {407} the times of Belon we are told (by him) that Genets were common and tame at Constantinople.

_Poiana_, containing a single African species, a spotted and entirely Genet-like animal, has been separated as a distinct genus. Dr. Mivart, however, holds it to be a _Prionodon_ which has acquired a Genet-like tarsus.

_Arctictis_, containing but one species, _A. binturong_, the Binturong, is in some ways an exceptional form. It is a black arboreal creature of not very wide range in the Oriental region, with a fully prehensile tail. This feature and its plantigrade foot with naked sole have led to its being regarded as more allied to the Arctoidea. It is, however, undoubtedly an ally of _Paradoxurus_. The caec.u.m is small, or may be quite absent. The dent.i.tion is I 3/3 C 1/1 Pm 4/3 M 2/2. The structure of the animal has been investigated by Garrod.[279]

The genus _Fossa_ is a Viverrine confined to Madagascar. There is but one species, _F. daubentoni_, the "Fossane." It is distinguished from _Viverra_ by the presence of two bare spots on the under surface of the metatarsus in the hind-limb, and by the absence of a scent pouch. The animal is not much spotted and striped, but the striping in the young is much more marked.

Of the genus _Paradoxurus_ there are some ten or a dozen species, belonging entirely to the Oriental region. The teeth are as in _Viverra_, but occasionally the molars are reduced to one. The pupils are vertical. The tail though long is not prehensile, "but the animal appears to have the power of coiling it to some extent, and in caged specimens the coiled condition not unfrequently becomes confirmed and permanent" (Blanford).

This fact accounts for the name _Paradoxurus_; for a prehensile tail is hardly to be expected in an animal of the zoological position of the Palm Civets, and yet its occasional twisting led originally to the view that it was so. The genus has scent glands. The dent.i.tion is I 3/3 C 1/1 Pm 4/4 M 2/2. _P. niger_, the Indian Palm Civet, is, like other species, not often to be seen in a wild condition. It is arboreal, and, like other members of the genus, feeds upon a mixed diet, consisting of all kinds of small Vertebrata and insects, varied by fruit. Another species, _P. grayi_, is so distinctly vegetarian in its habits that it makes considerable havoc in pine-apple beds in the Andaman Islands.

{408}

_Arctogale_ is another Oriental genus with very small teeth, those of the molar series being hardly in contact. The soles of the feet are more naked than in the last genus, and the scent glands, if present, appear to be small and ill developed. It has also a long tail, and is arboreal in way of life. There is "nothing particular recorded" as to its habits. The species are _A. leucotis_ and _A. stigmatica_.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

FIG. 201.--Hardwicke's Civet Cat. _Hemigale hardwicki._ 1/5. (From _Nature_.)

Closely allied to both the last genera is _Hemigale_, also an Oriental genus. It is to be distinguished from _Paradoxurus_ by having the soles of the feet much less naked, though they are more so than in _Viverra_ or _Prionodon_. The coloration of the species, _H. hardwicki_ (a Malayan animal), is very peculiar. The body is banded with five or six broad transverse stripes, and the basal portion of the tail is also ringed, an uncommon feature in the group. A second species of this genus is _H.

hosei_, from Borneo. It is blackish in colour, but is not a melanic variety of the last.

_Nandinia_ appears never to possess a caec.u.m.[280] It is also peculiar among Carnivora in the non-ossification of the hinder {409} part of the bulla. It is an African genus, containing two species which are spotted.

The tail is ringed.

_Cynogale_ is at any rate a partially aquatic, short-tailed, web-footed, reddish brown-coloured Civet, which lives upon fish and Crustacea, and inhabits the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. It has long "moustaches," and is said to have a head bearing a singular resemblance to the head of the Insectivorous "Otter" _Potamogale_. The metatarsus is bald, and the pollex and hallux are very well developed.

SUB-FAM. 5. HERPESTINAE.--There are over twenty species of _Herpestes_ (Mongooses) divided between the Ethiopian and Oriental regions, one species, _H. ichneumon_, being also found in Europe. The fur has a "pepper and salt" appearance; the feet are plantigrade. There are five fingers and toes. The pollex and hallux are small; the tail is long. The tarsus and metatarsus are usually naked. The Egyptian species "has been injudiciously denominated the Cat of Pharaoh." It is perhaps better known as Pharaoh's Mouse. The beast is so far Cat-like that it will destroy Rats and Mice; and it has been exported to sugar plantations for that very purpose. More famous are its combats with venomous serpents. According to Aristotle and Pliny the Ichneumon first coats its body with a coating of mud, in which it wallows, and then with this armour can defy the serpent. Topsell tells the tale better. The Ichneumon burrows in the sand, and "when the aspe espyeth her threatening rage, presently turning about her taile, provoketh the ichneumon to combate, and with an open mouth and lofty head doth enter the list, to her owne perdition. For the ichneumon being nothing afraid of this great bravado, receiveth the encounter, and taking the head of the aspe in his mouth biteth that off to prevent the casting out of her poison." In the West Indies the animal has been described as fearlessly attacking the deadly Fer de Lance and receiving its bites with impunity; it is also added that it will eat the leaves of a particular plant as an antidote! The real explanation of the result of these encounters is of course the agility of the Ichneumon[281]--_fort cauteleuse beste_, as Belon says.

Another species, _H. albicauda_, is distinguished, as the name denotes, by its white tail. A species of this genus, _H. urva_, {410} sometimes raised to generic rank as _Urva_, is partly aquatic in habit; it feeds upon crabs and frogs, but is quite willing to take to poultry and their eggs.

_Helogale_ is a genus whose validity appears doubtful (to Dr. Mivart). It is African, and contains two species.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

FIG. 202.--White-tailed Ichneumon. _Herpestes albicauda._ 1/5.

_Cynictis_ is an African genus, with five digits on the fore-limbs and four on the hind. As in _Herpestes_, the orbit is completely encircled by bone.

There is but a single species, _C. penicillata_, which is of a reddish colour and has a bushy tail.

_Bdeogale_, also African, has the toes still further reduced; there are only four on both limbs. The tarsus is hairy and the tail bushy. They are "very rare animals, and nothing is known of their habits." It is known, however, that they will kill poisonous snakes, for Dr. Peters took a Rhinoceros Viper out of the stomach of one.

_Rhynchogale_[282] differs from all other genera of Viverridae, except _Crossarchus_ and _Suricata_, in having no groove upon the muzzle. There are five digits. There is the full Viverrine dent.i.tion, with five premolars in the upper jaw; but this may be an abnormality.[283]

_Crossarchus_ differs from the last in only having three premolars on each side of each jaw. It is also African, and there are several species.

_Suricata_ is the last genus of Viverridae; it is also African, and contains a single species, _Suricata tetradactyla_, the "Meerkat" of the Cape. The Suricate has but four toes on each foot; the tarsus and the metatarsus are naked below. The body is banded posteriorly. There are fifteen dorsal vertebrae, and the orbit is {411} closed by bone. The Suricate lives in caves and rock crevices, and will dig burrows. It is distinctly a diurnal animal, and sits upon its hind-legs after the fashion of a Marmot. As Buffon noticed in a tame specimen (thought by him to be a native of Surinam), the animal barks like a dog. The Suricate is largely vegetarian, living upon roots.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

FIG. 203.--Suricate. _Suricata tetradactyla._ .

FAM. 4. HYAENIDAE.--Unlike though the Hyaenas appear to be to the last family--mainly perhaps on account of size--they are, nevertheless, very nearly akin to them, more so than to the Cat tribe. It will be remembered that the striping and spotting of the Hyaenas is very Genet- and Suricate-like.

There are admittedly two genera among the Hyaenidae, _Hyaena_ itself with three species,[284] and the Aard Wolf, _Proteles_, with but one. But Dr.

Mivart considers that the Spotted Hyaena should form a genus apart, _Crocuta_--a proceeding which was initiated by the late Dr. Gray of the British Museum. The Hyaenidae are to be distinguished by the following characters:--There are generally four toes, always so in the hind-foot. The claws are non-retractile. The nose and upper lip are grooved. The molar formula is Pm 4/3 M 1/1. The soles of the feet are covered with hairs upon the tarsus and metatarsus. No scent glands. Tail short. Dorsal vertebrae more numerous than in other Aeluroids, _i.e._ fifteen. The bulla is divided by a rudimentary septum only.