rdalis_ and several allied smaller, elegantly-spotted species
inhabiting the intratropical regions of America, are commonly
confounded under the name of ocelot or tiger-cat. _F. yaguarondi_,
rather larger than the domestic cat, with an elongated head and body,
and of a uniform brownish-grey colour, ranges from northern Mexico to
Paraguay; while the allied _F. eyra_ is a small cat, weasel-like in
form, having an elongated head, body and tail, and short limbs, and is
of a uniform light reddish-brown colour. It is a native of South
America and Mexico. _F. pajeros_ is the Pampas cat.

The typical lynxes, as represented by _Lynx borealis_ (_L. lynx_), the
southern _L. pardina_, and the American _L. rufa_, are a northern
group common to both hemispheres, and characterized by their tufted
ears, short tail, and the presence of a rudimentary heel to the lower
carnassial tooth. As a rule, they are more or less spotted in winter,
but tend to become uniformly-coloured in summer. They are connected
with the more typical cats by the long-tailed and uniformly red
caracal, _Lynx (Caracal) caracal_, of India, Persia and Africa, and
the propriety of separating them from _Felis_ may be open to doubt
(see LYNX and CARACAL).

However this may be, there can be no doubt of the right of the
hunting-leopard or chita (cheeta), as, in common with the leopard, it
is called in India, to distinction from all the other cats as a
distinct genus, under the name of _Cynaelurus jubatus_. From all the
other _Felidae_ this animal, which is common to Asia and Africa, is
distinguished by the inner lobe of the upper sectorial tooth, though
supported by a distinct root, having no salient cusp upon it, by the
tubercular molar being more in a line with the other teeth, and by the
claws being smaller, less curved and less completely retractile, owing
to the feebler development of the elastic ligaments. The skull is
short and high, with the frontal region broad and elevated in
consequence of the large development of air-sinuses. The head is small
and round, the body light, the limbs and tail long, and the colour
pale yellowish-brown with small solid black spots (see CHEETA).

Civet tribe.

The family _Viverridae_, which includes the civet-cats, genets and
mongooses, is nearly allied to the _Felidae_, but its members have a
fuller dentition, and exhibit certain other structural differenc