A hand-book to the carnivora. Pt. I, Cats, civets, and mungooses / by Richard Lydekker.

  • Lyddeker, Richard, 1849-1915.
Date:
[1894]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A hand-book to the carnivora. Pt. I, Cats, civets, and mungooses / by Richard Lydekker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Having the under surface of the tarsus and metatarsus com- pletely clothed with hair, as in Viverra, the Oriental Linsangs differ from all the genera mentioned above by having only one (instead of two) pair of molar teeth in the upper jaw. The Linsangs are long-bodied and short-limbed animals, with the claws of the five-toed feet almost as completely retractile as in thu Cats, and the fur short, soft, close, and erect. There are no scent-glands corresponding to those which produce civet in Viverra. The ground-colour of the fur is white or greyish- white, upon which are dark brown or black markings, taking the form either of a small number of large patches extending transversely across the body, or of such patches broken up into quadrangular spots,; there are dark longitudinal streaks (some- times broken into spots) on the neck and shoulders, as well as smaller ones on the head; and the tail is ringed with dark and light. The pupil of the eye is circular when contracted; and the skull is very similar to that of Genetta; but the lower car- nassial tooth has its posterior heel smaller than in the latter. The genus is exclusively Oriental, ranging from North-eastern India to Borneo and Java, although unknown in the Malay Peninsula. It is represented by an allied type in Western Africa. I. THE BORNEAN LINSANG. LINSANGA GRACILIS. Viverra gracilis, Desmarest, Mammalogie, p. 539 (1820). Fe/is gracilis, Horsfield, Zool. Researches, plate (1824). Paradoxurus linsang, Fischer, Synops. Mamm. p. 159 (1829). Linsang gracilis, Miiller, Verb. Nat. Gesch. p. 28 (1839); Gray, Cat. Carniv. Mamm. Brit. Mus. p. 53 (1869). Prionodon gracilis, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, p. 519. Characters.—Size small ; general coloration very similar to that of the next species, but the skull of a different type, being relatively shorter, and with a wider brain-case. Mr.