Pm 4/4 M 2/2. The secretion of the prescrotal gland of V. civetta yields the civet of commerce.
The "Rasse," genus Viverricula, has been separated generically from the true Civets. It is, remarkably enough, common to both Madagascar[1] and many parts of the Oriental region. It is, moreover, capable of climbing trees, which its relatives are not. It has no mane like Viverra and is of slighter build.
Fig. 200.—Civet Cat. Viverra civetta. × 1⁄6.
Prionodon or Linsang differs from the last two genera in the loss of an upper molar. It thus approaches the Cats, with which it also agrees in the furry feet. It is a purely Oriental genus. It also resembles the Cats in that the claws are apparently quite retractile, a feature not common among the group. There are three species of the genus. P. pardicolor has large black spots and a ringed tail. Its body is some 15 inches in length. Dr. Mivart has commented upon the particularly small caecum, which, like that of Arctictis, seems to be on the verge of disappearance.
Genetta, including the Genets, is almost purely African. It has the full tooth formula of Viverra; but is to be distinguished by the absence of a scent pouch, and by a naked strip of skin running up the metatarsus. These animals are all brownish yellowish to greyish with darker spots. The Common Genet, G. vulgaris, is South European, and just gets into Asia; it is also North African. The Genet, an animal "with an appetite for petty carnage," is one of those smaller Carnivora which are possibly to be regarded as meant by the word γαλῆ, and appear to have "functioned" as Cats among the Greeks. So recently as
- ↑ Where it has probably been introduced.
