OCR Text |
Show 84 MR. O. THOMAS O N T H E [Jan. 3, This species may be readily distinguished from all its allies by its bushy white-tipped tail and its peculiar greyish yellow colour. I can find no tangible specific differences between the various forms which have been described as distinct species. C. leptura, Smith, judging from his figure, appears to be slightly different from the rest; but the typical skull, in the British Museum, shows no characters whatever by which to separate that form from the rest; moreover there is in the Leyden Museum a specimen, in other respects quite the same as C penicillata, which has as slender a tail as C. leptura. I therefore do not think that the latter can stand as a species distinct from C. penicillata. Dr. Smith, in the letterpress to his figure of C. ogilbyi in his ' Illustrations,' gives a full account, too long to quote here, of the habits of this species. It is said to inhabit dry and sandy plains, where it lives in holes in the ground, to which, however, it only retires during the night, passing the day in hunting for mice, small birds, & c , or simply basking in the sun. Teeth of Cynictis. P.M4. Ma. Percentages. « 8*1 5*1 63 b 7.5 5*0 66 c 8*9 5*3 59 * 8*0 4*6 57 V. RHINOGALE. T Rhinogale, Gray, P.Z. S. 1864, p. 375 (woodcuts of skull) R. melleri. Range. That of the only species. Toes 5 - 5 . Teeth, I. f, C. \, P.M. •§, H . | x 2 = 4 2 . No naked line from nose to upper lip. General form of skull rounded, without marked angles or crests. Palate deeply concave both transversely and antero-posteriorly. Teeth rounded, suited for grinding rather than cutting. Last molars above and below proportionally very large, the lower one as long as the first molar, and very possibly with an extra external cusp; but the teeth are too much worn in the only known specimen for this point to be made out. Lower jaw rather peculiarly twisted (cf. original figures). This genus is a somewhat remarkable one, having the general external form of the true grooved-nosed Herpestines, while it has the hairy nose and the generally rounded skull and dentition of the present section of the group. It is, moreover, quite peculiar among the genera of this group in possessing a distinctly concave palate, a character which readily separates it from all other Mungooses. I am not prepared to say at present to which of the other genera Rhinogale is most nearly allied, as it presents such a mixture of characters that without further material a satisfactory decision on this point is extremely place by dtihffei ccuhlatr atcot earrsr iuvsee da tt.o arHroawnegvee trh,e i to tnhaetru rgaelnlye rfaa;l lso itnhtaot t hwies |