Length from tip of muzzle to root of tail 17'50. Length of tail without hair
7 inches, hut Cantor records a male 18-50 inches long, and with the tail 9 inches, and
he states that H. brachyvrus is distinguished from the other species not only by its
colour and comparatively short tail, hut by its larger size and much more robust
make.
The skull figured by Dr. Gray is that of an immature animal, with the orbit
incomplete and all the sutures of the skull intact, which, however, is not shown in
the figure, although they exist in the specimen which it represents. The posterior portion
of the palate is broad and short, the breadth nearly equalling that of H. urva, to
which the skull has so strong a resemblance that it might be taken for that species,
so that there are no skull characters which would entitle us to separate the species
generically. The last lower molar is quadricuspidate. This species has been
recorded from Borneo and Malacca.
H e r p e s t e s v iT T ic o L iiis , Bennett. Plate IX, fig s . 3 & 4 .
jfferpestes vitticollis, Bennett, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1885, p. 67; Schinz, Syn. Mamm. vol. i. (1844),
p. 874; Wagner, Schreber, Saugetb. Suppl. vol. ii. (1841), p. 817; -Fraser, Zool. Typica, 1849,
pi. viii.; Kelaart, Prod. Faun. Zeylan. 1852, p. 42 ; Blytb, Joum. As. Soc. Beng. 1852, p. 849;
Cat. Mamm, As. Soc. Mus. Bengal, 1868, p. 159; Giebel, Saugetb. vol. ii. 1859, p. 816;
Jerdon, Mamm. of Ind. 1867, p. 187.
Mnngos vitticollis, Ogilby, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1885, p. 108.
Mangusta vitticollis, Elliot, Madr. Joum. Lit. and Sc. vol. x. 1889, p. 103, pi. ii.; DeBlainv. Osteogr.
p. 48, pi. xcvi.
Taniogale vitticollis, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc.. Lond. 1864, p. 569; Cat. Carniv. Mamm. p. 167.,
The most striking characters of this large species are the black band behind
the ear, the dark-brown, unspeckled limbs, the fiery red and long hair on the hind
quarters and tail, and the black tip to the latter. In these respects it differs from
every other Asiatic Mungoose. The head is purplish-brown, darkest on the forehead
and vertex, which have a rufous tint, and paler on the sides of the head, which tend
to greyish, all the head and its sides being finely speckled with yellow from the.
handing of the hair. The general colour of the front part of the animal may he
described as a reddish-yellow, much grizzled with brown, the former colour passing
into intense, almost fiery, orange-red on the remainder of the body, hut obscurely
grizzled. The black band behind the ears runs along the sides of the neck to the
shoulders, and below it there is a patch of orange-yellow: extending round its
posterior end, and over the shoulder is a kind of* collar, but not very distinct. The
chin and throat are the same colour as the sides of the face, but less grizzled; and
the under surface of the neck and chest and over the humerus are vinous brown-
yellow and punctulated. The belly is nearly concolorous with the orange-yelloW
sides, but it is not abruptly defined from the colour of the chest, as the yellow bands
from before backwards gradually increase in size, until, on the abdomen, they almost
completely replace the brown of the hairs. The basal pile is sparse, and it is a rich,
pale yellowish-brown. The hairs on the sides have long, orange-red tips nearly one*
third the length of the hair, and these are succeeded by three brown bands alternating
with as many yellow bands. The hairs on the flanks are 2*50 inches in length. Many
of the caudal hairs have long, rich orange-red tips, equalling nearly one-half their
length and followed by about six alternate, brown and orange-yellow bands. Numerous
other hairs have only a narrow, basal, brown band, the rest of the hair being brilliant
orange-red, and so long that the banding of the other hairs is hidden by it, and
the general colour of the tail is orange-red, except for 3*50 inches which are jet
black. The hair at the base of the tail is 3‘60 long, but it slightly decreases in
length as the tip is reached. The ears are covered with short, fine, reddish-brown
hairs, and there is a tuft of annulated hairs at their middle, like the hairs on the side
of the face. The front limbs are dark purplish-brown, and the front of the hmd leg
and the tarsus are of the same colour. The claws are moderately developed. The
centre line of the tarsus is nude.
Erom the tip of the muzzle to the root of the tail is 19 inches, and the tail
without the hair is 10*50 inches.
The skull of this species is recognised by its large size and by its flattened and
expanded frontal region, also by its projected, rather narrow and long muzzle, and
powerful teeth. The skull in the British Museum has lost all trace of the sutures,
and the orbit is entire. The nasal portion of the palate is moderately broad, and
the nasal border tends to form a notch, as in S . maccarthi(B. The sagittal ridge
does not form a crest, and the lines from the post-orbital angles of the frontals
meet opposite the frontal contraction, which is moderate. The teeth are the same as
in other Asiatic JSerpestes, only larger, the last molar being proportionally greater
than in the other species.
This form is an inhabitant of Southern India and Ceylon, and is not uncommon.
H e r p e s t e s u r v a , H o d g s o n . Plate IX, fig s . 5 & 6.
Guio urva, Hodgson, Joum. As. Soc. Beng. vol. v. (1836), p. 238; CaJ. Joum. Nat. Hist. vol. ii.
" (1842), p . 45, pi. 18$, fig. 2.
Urva cancrivora, Hodg. Joum. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. vi. (1887), p. 560; Gray, List of Mamm Brit.
Mus. 1848, p., 50; Cat. Hodg. Coll. Brit. Mus. 1846, p. 8 ; Proc. Zool., Soc. Lond. 1864,
p. 568, et Cat. Carniv. Mamm. 1869, p. 166; Blyth, Joum. As. Soc. Bengal, 1852, vol. xx.
p. 349, et Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus. p. 49 (1863); Horsfield, Cat. Mam™ e . Ind. Co
Mus. 1851, p. 98; Giebel, Saugeth. vol. ii. 1859) p. 794 ; Jerdon, Mamm. of Ind. 1867, p. 139;
Swinboe, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1870, p. 630.
Viverra fusca, Gray, Hardwicke’s HI. Ind. Zool. vol. i. pi. iii. (bad figure not described) .
Mesobema cancrivora, Hodgson, Joum. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. x. (1841), p. 910.
Qsmetictis fusca, Gray, Ann, and Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. x. 1842, p. 260.
This animal is about the same size as H. vitticollis, which it resembles in the
long, loose character of its fur which is harsh as in that species, and longest on the
hind quarters and on the base of the tail. The tail is rather bushy, somewhat more
so than in H. vitticollis. The white band below and behind the ear distinguishes it
at once from any other known Herpestes. The fur is described by Hodgson as being