The Cambridge Natural History Part 35

_A. collaris_ lives in {433} fissures of rocks, or in holes dug by itself.

It is a purely nocturnal beast.

The singular genus _Mydaus_, containing the species _M. meliceps_, the Teledu or Javanese Skunk, is an inhabitant of Java and Sumatra. It frequents the mountains of these islands, into the soil of which it burrows in search of worms and larvae. There is but one species, which is "like a miniature badger, of rather eccentric colours." It is blackish brown, with a yellowish-white top to its head, and a stripe of the same colour down the back. It may be distinguished by its elongated snout, obliquely truncated, and with inferiorly-placed nostrils. As to osteological characters, it has a more oblique symphysis of the mandible than in any other Carnivore. The secretion of the a.n.a.l glands is said to rival that of the Skunk in offensiveness and in the distance to which it can be propelled.

SUB-FAM. 2. MUSTELINAE.--Representatives occur in both the Old and New Worlds; but the genera and even the species are in one or two cases common to both.

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FIG. 219.--Tayra. _Galictis barbara._ 1/7.

_Galictis barbara_,[303] the Tayra, is a brown, elongated, and Weasel-like animal from Mexico and South America. As is the case with the Weasel, it is sometimes gregarious, a herd of twenty having been observed. The soles of the feet are naked, and the molar formula is Pm 3/3 M 1/2. In these characters the Grison (_G. vittata_) agrees with _G. barbara_; but it has been referred to a different genus, _Grisonia_.

The Grison, "this savage and diabolical-looking weasel," as {434} Mr. Aplin terms it,[304] is known also as the "Huron." It almost rivals the Skunk in the power of the odour which it can emit when enraged. A trapped specimen was placed in a cage 50 yards or so from the house, and even at this distance it was disagreeably easy to tell when any one visited the animal--at least when the wind set in the right direction. It is greyish yellow above and blackish beneath, presenting, as has been remarked, a curious similarity to the Ratel. The nose of this animal is dest.i.tute of a median groove, which is present in the Tayra; the soles of the feet, however, are naked as in that animal, and it is nearly plantigrade in walk.

It differs also from _Galictis_ in having sixteen[305] instead of fourteen dorsal vertebrae. Eleven of the ribs reach the sternum. Considering the differences that exist between some other genera of Arctoids, it may be fairly allowed that a genus _Grisonia_ is tenable.

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FIG. 220.--Grison. _Grisonia vittata._ 1/7.

_G. allamandi_ is darker coloured than the Grison, with a white band from the forehead to the neck. Mr. T. Bell described a tame individual as eating eggs, frogs, and even a young alligator.

A third genus of this group has recently been founded by Mr. Oldfield Thomas[306] for a small African animal, which is Grison-like in its coloration. The name given to the genus, _Galeriscus_, is intended to suggest its likeness to the Grison (_Galera_ or _Grisonia_). The chief distinctive feature of this genus, whose skeleton is not yet known, is the presence of only four digits on each limb; the pollex and the hallux being entirely absent. The ears of this Grison are short. {435}

The genus _Mustela_ includes the Martens and Sables, which are distinguished from the following genus by the molar formula, which is Pm 4/4 M 1/2. The same character separates them from _Galictis_, and also the generally hairy under surface of the feet. In more southern lat.i.tudes, however, the palms are sometimes naked. The nose is grooved, and the ears are short and broad. The genus is widely distributed, being common to the Old and New Worlds. In the Old World it extends from Europe to Java, Sumatra, and Borneo. The largest species of the genus is the American Pekan, an animal which may be 46 inches in length, including the tail.

There are two species of Sable, one European (_M. zibellina_), the other American.

The only British species of the genus is the Pine Marten, _M. martes_. It is dark brown, with a brownish-yellow throat, and reaches a length of some 17 inches, with an eight-inch tail. It is getting rare, but is still fairly common in the Lake country. The animal is largely arboreal in habit, whence the vernacular name. It is also called Marten Cat. The allied _M. foina_, the Beech Marten, has been stated to be, but apparently is not, an inhabitant of these islands. The colour of the animal is a rich brown. It has small eyes and ears and a short tail. The palms of the hands and the soles of the feet are hairy; the muzzle is naked, and has a groove as in _Cercoleptes_, etc.

The Glutton, _Gulo_, is a well-marked genus, containing but one species, which is circ.u.mpolar in range. The dent.i.tion is Pm 4/4 M 1/2. The ferocity but not the voracity of this animal appears to have been exaggerated. It mainly feeds on carcases, and is not really a successful hunter. As to the carcases, Olaus Magnus tells in straightforward language the way in which the animal dilates in size during a meal, and presently, after following the practice of the ancient Romans, returns to the banquet: "Creditur a natura creatum ad ruborem hominum qui vorando bibendoque vomunt redeuntque ad mensam"!

This is one of the few land animals which ranges completely round the pole.

There is no difference to be noted between the Old-World and the New-World specimens. It is now an entirely northern form, but in Pleistocene times it reached as far south as this country. The fossil species seems to be _Gulo luscus_, and to be quite indistinguishable from the living forms.

_Putorius_, the genus which embraces the Weasel tribe, contains {436} many species known popularly as Weasels, Ermines, Stoats, Ferrets, Polecats, Minks, and Vison. Not only is the genus common to both Old and New Worlds, but in a few cases the species (e.g. _P. erminea_) range from Asia to America. The molar formula is Pm 3/3 M 1/2. The form of the body is an exaggerated one, the length of the trunk to the limbs being very great. The feet are more or less hairy beneath, and the animals are digitigrade. The nose is grooved. The dorsal vertebrae vary from thirteen to sixteen.

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FIG. 221.--Polecat. _Mustela putorius._ 1/6.

There are four British representatives of this genus:--

The Polecat, _P. foetidus_, is a dark brown-coloured animal. Its total length is about 2 feet, of which the tail occupies some 7 inches. It is a species banned by the gamekeeper, and hence is approaching extinction in this country. It is excessively bloodthirsty, as are apparently all the members of this genus, and kills out of mere wantonness. The Ferret is simply a domesticated variety of the Polecat.

The Stoat or Ermine, _P. erminea_, is reddish brown above, white beneath.

In winter, in certain localities, it becomes white with the exception of the black tip of the tail. This colour-change bears some relation to the degree of lat.i.tude. It is universal in the north of Scotland, rare in the south of England. As is the case with some other animals that generally change {437} their colour in the winter, there are individuals which seem to have lost the power of change, and others which change in an apparently capricious manner, not influenced by season or cold. Like so many other animals, the Stoat appears at times to migrate, which it does in large parties. Such parties are said to be dangerous, and will attack a man who crosses their path.

The Weasel, _P. vulgaris_, has much the same colour as the Stoat, but is a smaller animal; it differs also by undergoing no seasonal change. It is equally agile and ferocious, and ought to be encouraged, as it vents its ferocity largely upon Voles and Moles, which it can pursue underground.

Like other species of _Putorius_, it seems to kill its prey by biting through the brain-case.

The fourth British species is the recently-described Irish Stoat, _P.

hibernicus_. It is somewhat intermediate between the last two.

_Poecilogale_ is a genus recently inst.i.tuted by Mr. Thomas for a small South African Weasel, _P. albinucha_, coloured like the Zorilla, _i.e._ with whitish stripes upon black, but differing in its reduced molar formula, which is Pm 2/2 M 1/1 or 1/2.

_Lyncodon_[307] is thought to be more doubtful; it is South American (Patagonian), with the same molar formula as the most reduced forms of the last genus, _i.e._ Pm 2/2 M 1/1. The ears are short and almost invisible; the claws of the anterior limbs are long, those of the hind limbs short. It is not quite certain that it is not "an aberrant southern form of _Putorius brasiliensis_." That its distinction is justifiable appears to be shown by the discovery in the same region of a fossil species, _L. luganensis_.

Matschie places it near _Galictis_.

The Ratel, _Mellivora_, is common to India and West and South Africa. It is a black animal with a grey back and grey on the top of the head, the contrast of colour suggesting a dorsal carapace. It runs with a swift trot.

The animal lives much on the ground, but can climb trees. It is exclusively nocturnal in its habits. It has the reputation in India of feeding upon dead bodies, a view which has probably no foundation in fact save that it can burrow. The molar formula is Pm 3/3 M 1/1. There are fourteen dorsal vertebrae. The African and Indian species are {438} hardly to be distinguished from each other. The ears are very minute. The tail is short.

The muzzle is rather pointed, and the soles and palms are naked.

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FIG. 222.--Ratel. _Mellivora capensis._ 1/8.

The structure of _Helictis_ has been described by the late Professor Garrod,[308] as well as by Sir W. Flower in his general account of the Carnivorous skeleton. The animal, which is a native of East Asia, is sometimes gaily coloured. _H. subaurantiaca_, the species dissected and figured by Garrod, is a varied black and orange. The genus is arboreal, and the tail may be moderately long and bushy. The ears are small; the nose is grooved; the palms are naked, but the soles of the feet are hairy. There are fourteen dorsal vertebrae. The molar formula is Pm 4/4 M 1/2.

The Zorilla, _Ictonyx_, is the last of the Old-World genera of Melinae. It is African, ranging from the tropical parts of the continent to the Cape.

"In colour and markings," remarks Dr. Mivart, "as well as in the odour of the secretion of its a.n.a.l glands, the one or two species which form this genus resemble the skunks; so much so that did they inhabit the same region, and were they devoid of an offensive secretion, they would certainly be said to mimic the skunks." The molar formula of the genus is Pm 3/3 M 1/2. There are fifteen dorsal vertebrae. The nose is grooved and the soles partly hairy.

The American Badger, _Taxidea_, is a burrower of omnivorous tastes, and correlated with the former habit are the immense {439} claws of the fore-paws. It is North American, but gets into Mexico. The molar formula is as in the American genera _Mephitis_ and _Conepatus_, and as in the Old-World _Ictonyx_, and it thus differs from that of _Meles_. Besides the great size of the claws upon the hand, which are larger relatively than those of any other Carnivore, the genus _Taxidea_ is to be distinguished from all Arctoids (indeed, from all Carnivora) except _Mydaus_, by the fact that the pelvic limb is of the same length as the pectoral. The muzzle is furry except at the very extremity; this is grooved. The animal is carnivorous, subsisting upon the following very varied kinds of food--"Spermophiles, Arvicolas, birds' eggs, and snails, also honey-comb, wax, and bees."

The Skunk, _Mephitis_, is an American animal with several species, which range from North to Central America. The black-and-white colour distinguishes the genus, which is furthermore marked by the fact that the third digit of the hand is relatively longer than in any other Carnivore except _Taxidea_. The soles are partly hairy. It is a terrestrial fossorial animal with well-known powers of protecting itself from aggression. But nevertheless the Skunk has its enemies, and is not quite so unmolested as is sometimes popularly supposed. The Puma, Harpy Eagle, and the Great Horned Owl will at least occasionally attack and devour it. The molar formula is Pm 3/3 M 1/2. There are sixteen dorsal vertebrae.

_Conepatus_ is a more southern form of Skunk, extending down into South America. Its dent.i.tion is like that of _Mephitis_ save for the loss of an upper premolar. This genus, which has been further subdivided, differs from _Mephitis_ in the fact that the soles of the feet are wholly naked, whereas in Mephitis those of the hind-limbs are partially hairy. It has no groove on the nose. Its tail is shorter than that of _Mephitis_. This Skunk has the same habits as the last. In certain parts of South America the animals are so abundant and their odour so powerful that in the evening there is generally a recognisable smell about. This is said to be good for the headache!

SUB-FAM. 3. LUTRINAE.--Of this sub-family there are at least two genera.

_Enhydris_ (_Latax_),[309] the Sea-Otter, is confined to the sh.o.r.es of the North Pacific. It is more purely aquatic than are {440} other Otters.

Specimens have been seen swimming fifteen miles from land. The gait of the creature when on land is suggestive of a marine animal; the webbed hind-feet are doubled back upon the knuckles during progression upon land, and locomotion is effected by a series of short springs from these feet; the Otter does not walk "in ordinary acceptance of the term." The tail is flattened, being twice as broad as it is thick, and ends in a bluntish point. _Enhydris_ feeds mainly upon crabs and sea-urchins, but also upon fish. Its dental formula is peculiar by reason chiefly of the reduction of the lower incisors. The formula runs as follows: I 3/2 C 1/1 Pm 3/3 M 1/2.

The molar teeth of this creature, in accordance with its diet, have lost the sharp points of the Mustelidae in general; the crowns are flattened, and the tubercles very blunt. In this it contrasts with _Lutra_, and presents some resemblance to the Crab-eating Racc.o.o.n, _Procyon cancrivorus_; but the teeth are still further blunted. _Enhydris_ feeds largely upon sea-urchins and sh.e.l.l-fish, and needs blunt teeth for the crushing of the hard sh.e.l.ls of its prey. It is interesting to notice that the habits of this animal have been altered by the interference of man. The creature has been hotly pursued for a long time on account of its valuable fur. Instead of feeding and breeding upon the sh.o.r.e in places readily accessible to its pursuers, the Sea-Otter has now taken to the open sea in a greater degree. It utilises ma.s.ses of floating seaweed for those purposes, and hunts for its food in the deeper water at a greater distance from the sh.o.r.e. In conjunction with the increasing rarity of the Sea-Otter the price of its skin has enormously increased: whereas in 1888 the average price per skin was 21:10s., the value of a fine skin now is at least 100, and as much as 200 and even 250 has been given. The animal is captured by netting and by clubbing and spearing.[310] From the Miocene Siwalik beds remains of an allied form, _Enhydridon_, have been obtained, whose teeth are somewhat intermediate in their crowns between _Lutra_ and _Enhydris_.

_Lutra_, including the Otters, is widely distributed. Both ma.n.u.s and pes are webbed. The ears are small and hairy. The nose is not grooved, and the naked part is very circ.u.mscribed; {441} the claws upon the hind-feet are flattened and somewhat nail-like. There are about ten species, but of course, as is so universally the case, a great many more names have been given. The molar formula is like that of _Enhydris_ save that there is an extra premolar in the upper jaw. There are fourteen pairs of ribs, of which eleven pairs reach the ten-jointed sternum. The caudals are twenty-three.

The Cape Otter, the "clawless" Otter, has been separated as a genus _Aonyx_. So too has the South American _Pteronura brasiliensis_. But in neither case is the separation allowed by Mr. Thomas in a recent revision of the genus.[311] The latter species has the reputation of being very fierce, and is known in Uruguay by the name of "Lobo de pecho blanco." The British species, _L. vulgaris_, reaches a length of 2 feet or so, with a tail of 16 inches; it ranges over the whole of Europe and a large portion of Asia. This Otter often burrows in the banks of the streams which it frequents; and in the burrow in March or April the female brings forth her young, three to five in number. It will also frequent the sea-coast.

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FIG. 223.--Otter. _Lutra vulgaris._ 1/6.

FOSSIL MUSTELIDAE.--Besides a number of the existing genera there are fossil members of this family which cannot be referred to existing genera.

These latter extend back into time as far as the Eocene. _Stenoplesictis_, one of these Eocene forms referable to the sub-family Mustelinae, is to be distinguished {442} from living Mustelines by its comparatively long legs.

In this genus as in several others there are two upper molars.

FAM. 8. URSIDAE.--This family is nearly universal in distribution, and consists of but three genera, _Ursus_, _Melursus_, and _Aeluropus_.

_Ursus_ has the palms and soles naked except in the Polar Bear, which needs a furry sole to walk with ease upon ice surfaces. The ears are fairly large, and the nose may or may not be traversed by a median groove.[312]

The molar formula[313] is Pm 4/4 M 2/3. The brain is naturally (because of the size of the animals of this genus) richly convoluted. The lobate kidneys have already been mentioned in defining this family (see p. 426).

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