fissures of rocks, or in holes dug by itself. It is a purely nocturnal beast.
The singular genus Mydaus, containing the species M. meliceps, the Teledu or Javanese Skunk, is an inhabitant of Java and Sumatra. It frequents the mountains of these islands, into the soil of which it burrows in search of worms and larvae. There is but one species, which is "like a miniature badger, of rather eccentric colours." It is blackish brown, with a yellowish-white top to its head, and a stripe of the same colour down the back. It may be distinguished by its elongated snout, obliquely truncated, and with inferiorly-placed nostrils. As to osteological characters, it has a more oblique symphysis of the mandible than in any other Carnivore. The secretion of the anal glands is said to rival that of the Skunk in offensiveness and in the distance to which it can be propelled.
Sub-Fam. 2. Mustelinae.—Representatives occur in both the Old and New Worlds; but the genera and even the species are in one or two cases common to both.
Fig. 219.—Tayra. Galictis barbara. × 1⁄7.
Galictis barbara,[1] the Tayra, is a brown, elongated, and Weasel-like animal from Mexico and South America. As is the case with the Weasel, it is sometimes gregarious, a herd of twenty having been observed. The soles of the feet are naked, and the molar formula is Pm 3/3 M 1/2. In these characters the Grison (G. vittata) agrees with G. barbara; but it has been referred to a different genus, Grisonia.
The Grison, "this savage and diabolical-looking weasel," as
- ↑ See Trans. Zool. Soc. ii. 1841, p. 201.
