. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Zoology; Zoology. 340 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. shortly after dawn, one was found already dead having been bitten through the neck by a leopard whose tracks were seen in the path. On another occasion we startled one in the early afternoon, that had been ensconced in the hollow under the roots of a fallen tree, no doubt asleep. Genetta abyssinica (Ruppell). Abyssinian Civet-cat. Viverra abyssinica Ruppell, Neue wirbelth. fauna Abyssinien. Saugeth. 1835, p. 33, pi. 11. Along the Blue Nile and the Dinder River this
. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Zoology; Zoology. 340 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. shortly after dawn, one was found already dead having been bitten through the neck by a leopard whose tracks were seen in the path. On another occasion we startled one in the early afternoon, that had been ensconced in the hollow under the roots of a fallen tree, no doubt asleep. Genetta abyssinica (Ruppell). Abyssinian Civet-cat. Viverra abyssinica Ruppell, Neue wirbelth. fauna Abyssinien. Saugeth. 1835, p. 33, pi. 11. Along the Blue Nile and the Dinder River this seemed to be a com- mon species. Specimens were trapped at Bados and Magangani on the Blue Nile and at the latter spot Dr. Phillips shot one that was clambering up the trunk of a large baobad tree in the full sunlight of noon. At Bados, one was caught in a trap and found next morning partly eaten by a large cat, apparently a Caracal, that bounded off in the dusk when surprised. Curiously, we did not succeed in trapping any in the more northern part of our journey between Sennar and Bados, where perhaps they are less common. The extraordinary amount of color variation in this group renders the division into races a matter of much uncertainty. Professor Matschie (1902) in his review of the civet-cats, was able to examine some 240 skins in the Berlin Zoological Museum, and recognized no less than thirty-three forms, all of which may be considered races of two species, the one with a longer-haired, the other with a shorter- haired tail. In the latter group belong the specimens obtained by the Phillips Expedition. Although the propriety of recognizing so many local races may be questioned and the value of certain of the characters considered distinctive is yet to be shown, the four skins preserved do agree in having the light tail annulations much wider than the dark, and the feet practically of the same light gray on both the superior and the inferior surfaces, marks which Matschi
Size: 1591px × 1571px
Photo credit: © Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorha, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectzoology
