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Show 76 MR. O. THOMAS ON T H E [Jan. 3, the body without the head. Underside of tarsus thickly hairy down to the root of the hallux. Fur of medium length. General colour blackish grey, the longer hairs ringed with black and white, the terminal third nearly always black. Underfur woolly, uniform dirty grey. Feet black. Tail-hairs very long, in some cases with white bases and long shining black tips, so that the whole tail appears to be black ; in others with a long white tip beyond the black, so that then the tail appears to be white ; in the latter case the hairs at the extreme tip of the tail are generally wholly white. Fig. 1. a, b. Last lower molars of Herpestes ichneumon. c, d. „ „ H. albicanda. a, c. Upper view; b, d. side view. Skull rather stout and heavy, the muscular ridges, however, but little developed. Brain-case comparatively short, not half the length of the whole skull. Teeth more rounded than in the members of the typical subgenus. Last molars, above and below, proportionally much larger than in Herpestes, the lower one with a well-marked extra external cusp between the two usual ones, so that there are five cusps in all (see woodcut, Fig 1, c, d.). In old specimens, of course, this character cannot be made out, as the cusps are worn off these teeth at a comparatively early age. Dental percentage 71-84. Dimensions. Head and body. a. Type, Nubia(Berl. Mus.) 26*0 b. Natal 24*0 c. Caffraria (Leyd. Mus.).. 24*5 e. W. Africa (type of H. loempo, Leyd. Mus.).. .. 23*0 Length. a. Accra 4*28 b. W . Africa (Berl. Mus.) 4*05 c. Abyssinia 3*75 d. E. Africa c. 3*80 Skulls. Breadth. 2*16 2*0 1*88 2*07 Palate-length. 2*6 2-41 2*05 2*23 Tail. 15*8 15*0 15*8 15*8 Palate-breadth. 1*3 1*25 1*11 1-2 Hind foot. 4*9 5*0 4*85 4*5 Inc. to Basi-cross cranial line. axis. 1-5 - 1*41 1*35 L37 1*18 |
