OCR Text |
Show 1882.] AFRICAN MUNGOOSES. 87 which has already been proved to be one of singular variability l. No doubt, also, C. obscurus has a somewhat more elongated nose than the other species ; but the value of this character, besides being almost impossible to estimate without spirit specimens, is extremely doubtful; and the remarkable agreement in other characters convinces me that O. obscurus is certainly congeneric with C. zebra, gambianus, and fasciatus. Most specimens of G. obscurus have a remarkably short alisphenoid canal, as compared with that of most Mungooses; but one of our specimens has the canal quite as long as in ordinary C. zebra, the species which has the next shortest canal. The species of this genus seem to be somewhat restricted in their geographical distribution. Thus C. obscurus has hitherto only been found from the Cameroons to Sierra Leone, C. gambianus on the Gambia, C. zebra in Abyssinia, and G. fasciatus in the eastern part of the Cape colony and as far north as Mozambique2. Synopsis of the Species. I. Back grizzled, not cross-striped. a. Colour dullbrown, tips of hairs yellow 1. C. obscurus, p. 87. b. Colour grizzled grey, hairs annulated 2. C. gambianus, p. 88. II. Back cross-striped. c. P.M4 more than 8 m m . Stripes narrow. Underside rufous 3. C. zebra, p. 89. d P.M4 less than 7 m m . Stripes broad. Underside grizzled grey 4. C. fasciatus, p. 90. 1. CROSSARCHUS OBSCURUS. Crossarchus obscurus, F. Cuv. Hist. Nat. Mamm. iii. livr. 47 (1825). Crossarchus typicus, A. Smith, S. Afr. Quart. Journ. ii. p. 135 (1835). Hab. West Africa. Size medium ; form rather stout; muzzle produced. Tail about half as long as the head and body. General colour dull grizzled brown; the longer hairs dark brown for four fifths of their length, and the tips yellow. Underfur brown at base, light grey for terminal half. Belly like back. Head more finely grizzled, with a rufous tin°*e. Feet almost wholly black. Tail like back, but the yellow tips of the hairs gradually become red towards the tip. Skull long and narrow, with a narrow and depressed nasal region. Teeth very small, upper P.M'1 but seldom reaching 7 mm. in its greatest diameter. Dental percentage 71-77. Dimensions. Head and body. Tail. Hind foot. a. Cameroons 150 7*5 2*8 b. W . Africa 12*5 2*5 1 See above, p. 67. 2 See footnote 2 on p. 90. |