Part 33 (1/2)

NO. 197. LUTRA ELLIOTI.

HABITAT.--Southern Mahratta country.

DESCRIPTION.--The colouring is the same as the last, only a little darker; the distribution of the silvery white is the same; the muzzle is however more depressed than in the last species, and it differs from _L. nair_ by a broader, more arched head, and shorter muzzle.

Dr. Anderson, who distinguishes it by the feature of its skull from the two preceding species, says: ”It may be that this otter has a north-westerly distribution, and that it is the species which occurs in the lake at Mount Abu in Rajputana, and also in Sindh and in the Indus.”

NO. 198. LUTRA AUROBRUNNEA.

HABITAT.--Nepal.

DESCRIPTION.--Fur of a rich ferruginous brown colour, the upper surface of the head being a deeper brown than the back; the nose is bare; the ears are small and pointed posteriorily. All the strong bristles of the moustache, eyes, cheeks, and chin, are dark brown; claws as in _Lutra_ (_Anderson_). Hodgson says it has a more vermiform body than the rest of Indian otters; tail less than two thirds of the body; nails and toes feebly developed (whence it is cla.s.sed by Gray in the next genus); fur long and rough, rich chestnut-brown above, golden red below and on the extremities.

SIZE.--Head and body, 20 to 22 inches; tail, 12 to 13 inches.

_GENUS AONYX--CLAWLESS OTTERS_.

Muzzle bald, oblong; skull broad, depressed, shorter and more globose than in _Lutra_; the molars larger than in the last genus; flesh tooth larger, and with a large internal lobe; first upper premolar generally absent; feet oblong, elongate; toes slender and tapering; claws rudimentary.

NO. 199. AONYX LEPTONYX.

_The Clawless Otter_ (_Jerdon's No. 102_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Chusam_, Bhotia; _Suriam_, Lepcha.

HABITAT.--Throughout the Himalayas, also in Lower Bengal and in Burmah.

DESCRIPTION.--”Above earthy brown or chestnut brown; lips, sides of head, chin, throat, and upper part of breast white, tinged with yellowish-grey. In young individuals the white of the lower parts is less distinct, sometimes very pale brownish.”--_Jerdon_.

SIZE.--Head and body, 24 Inches; tail, 13.

Mason speaks of this species as common in Burmah, and McMaster mentions his having seen in the Sitang River a colony of white-throated otters smaller than _L. nair_, though larger than _L.

aurobrunnea_, but he did not secure specimens.

AELUROIDEA.

This section includes the Cat family (_Felidae_); the Hyaenas (_Hyaenidae_); two families unknown in India, viz. the _Cryptoproctidae_ and the _Protelidae_; and the Civet family (_Viverridae_).

_FELIDAE--THE CAT FAMILY_.

This family contains the typical carnivores. There is in them combined the greatest power of destruction, accompanied by the simplest mechanism for producing it. All complications of dent.i.tion and digestion disappear. Here are the few scissor-like teeth with the enormous canines, the latter for holding and piercing the life out of their prey, the former for chopping up the flesh into suitable morsels for swallowing. Then the stomach is a simple sac, undivided into compartments, and the intestine is short, not more than three times the length of the body, instead of being some twenty times longer, as in some herbivores. This family has the smallest number of molars, a cla.s.s of tooth which would indeed be useless, for the construction of the feline jaw precludes the possibility of grinding, and therefore a flat-crowned tuberculous tooth would be out of place.

As I have before described it, the jaw of a tiger is incapable of lateral motion. The condyle of the lower jaw is so broad, and fits so accurately into its socket, the glenoid cavity, that there can be no departure from the up and down scissor-like action. The true Cats have, therefore, only one molar on each side of each jaw; those in the upper jaw being merely rudimentary, and placed almost at right angles to the rest of the teeth, and seem apparently of little use; those of the lower jaw are large and trenchant, cutting against the edge of the third upper premolar.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Skull of Tiger (side view).]

It may interest my readers to know which are premolars and which are molars. This can be decided only by dissection of the jaw of a young animal. True molars only appear as the animal approaches the adult stage. They are never shed, as are all the rest of the teeth, commonly called milk teeth. The deciduous or milk teeth are the incisors, canines, and premolars; they drop out and are replaced, and behind the last premolar comes up the permanent molar.

Another peculiar feature of the Cat family is the power of sheathing their talons. Claws to a cat are of as great importance to him in the securing of his prey as are his teeth. The badger is a digger, Hodge, who carries his mattock on his shoulder; but the feline is the free-lance whose sword must be kept keen in its scabbard, so by a peculiar arrangement of muscles the points of the claws are kept off the ground, while the animal treads noiselessly on soft pads.

Otherwise by constant abrasion they would get so blunted as to fail in their penetrating and seizing power. I give here an ill.u.s.tration of the mechanism of the feline claw. In the upper sketch the claw is retracted or sheathed; in the lower it is protruded as in the act of striking.