Eyes small. Tail short, thick and bushy. Fur full, long and rather
coarse. The one species, the wolverine or glutton, is an inhabitant of
the forest regions of northern Europe, Asia and America, and much
resembles a small bear in appearance. It is a very powerful animal for
its size, climbs trees and lives on squirrels, hares, beavers,
reindeer, and is said to attack even horses and cows.

The South American grison and tayra represent the genus _Galictis_, in
which the dentition is i. 3/3, c. 1/1, p. 3/3, m. 1/2; total 34; the
molars being small but stout, and the upper sectorial with the inner
lobe near the middle of the inner border. Lower sectorial with heel
small, and inner tubercle small or absent. Body long; limbs short,
with non-retractile claws and naked soles. Head broad and depressed.
Tail of moderate length. The species include the grison (_G.
vittata_), _G. allamandi_, and the tayra (_G. barbara_); the last,
which extends northward into Central America, being sub-generically
separated as _Galera_. Nearly allied to these is the smaller and more
weasel-like _Lyncodon patagonicus_. All the foregoing South American
carnivores display a marked tendency to being darker on the lower than
on the upper surface. The same feature obtains in the African and
Indian ratels, or honey-badgers, constituting the genus _Mellivora_,
distinguished from all the other members of the family by having only
a single pair of lower molars, the dentition being i. 3/3, c. 1/1, p.
3/3, m. 1/1; total 32; the upper sectorial is large, with its inner
cusp at the anterior end of the blade, the molar much smaller and
transversely extended, having a small outer and a larger rounded inner
lobe. Heel of lower sectorial very small, scarcely one-fourth of the
whole length of the tooth, with but one cusp. Vertebrae: C. 7, D. 14,
L. 4, S. 4, Ca. 15. Body stout, depressed; limbs short, strong; head
depressed; nose rather pointed; ears rudimentary. Tail short. _M.
indica_, from India, and _M. ratel_, from south and west Africa, have
nearly the same general appearance and size, being rather larger than
a common badger, and may be only races of the same species. Their
coloration is peculiar, all the upper surface of the body, head and
tail being ash-grey, while the lower parts, separated by a distinct
longitudinal boundary line, are black. They live chiefly on the
ground, into which