Viverra genus

   Viverra is a genus of civet cat. Viverra cats have a body elongated and compressed; head pointed front, ears rather small; extremities short, feet small and rounded; toes short, five on each foot; tail moderate or long; a pair of large glandular follicles, situated on he perineum in both sexes and secreting in most species an oily substance of a penetrating odor. All the species of Viverra are extremely active, fierce, and rapacious, and feed chiefly in small mammals and birds. The genus is an extensive one and is often divided into groups, to which some naturalists give generic rank. The chief are 1) Viverra proper, including the largest species. Fur rather long and loose, and elongated in the median line of the neck and back, so as to form a sort of crest or mane. 2) Viverricula, and 3) Genetta, containing smaller species, differing slightly from the first group in dentition.