Sub-Fam. 4. Viverrinae.—Viverra includes the true Civets. The genus, save for one African species, is Oriental in range. The molar formula is the complete one for the Viverridae, viz.
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[[268]] 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
the times of Belon we are told (by him) that Genets were common and tame at Constantinople.
Poiana, containing a single African species, a spotted and entirely Genet-like animal, has been separated as a distinct genus. Dr. Mivart, however, holds it to be a Prionodon which has acquired a Genet-like tarsus.
Arctictis, containing but one species, A. binturong, the Binturong, is in some ways an exceptional form. It is a black arboreal creature of not very wide range in the Oriental region, with a fully prehensile tail. This feature and its plantigrade foot with naked sole have led to its being regarded as more allied to the Arctoidea. It is, however, undoubtedly an ally of Paradoxurus. The caecum is small, or may be quite absent. The dentition is I 3/3 C 1/1 Pm 4/3 M 2/2. The structure of the animal has been investigated by Garrod.[[269]]