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Show 1876.] MR. E. R. ALSTON ON THE ORDER GLIRES. 83 sparsely haired. Cheek-pouches large. Skull most like that of Saccostomus, but incisive foramina much smaller. Upper incisors grooved. Molars as in Saccostomus. H. MURINE. Molars tuberculate, at least in youth. Infraorbital opening typical; pterygoid fossae lengthened ; auditory bullae moderate. Cheek-pouches absent or very small. Tail scaly, more or less naked. Cosmopolitan. Recent genera :- 16. Mus, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 79 (1766). Muzzle pointed ; eyes prominent; ears rather large, subnaked ; fur soft (rarely mixed with spines); pollex rudimentary; claws short; tail moderate or long, scaly, with scattered hairs. No cheek-pouches. Skull elongate, narrow; temporal ridges nearly parallel; palate compressed ; incisive foramina long ; auditory bullae moderately large ; coronoid process high, falcate. Incisors rarely grooved. Molars with transverse ridges, each composed in youth of three tubercles. 17. Pelomys, Peters, Reise n. Mossambique, i. p. 157 . (1852). Middle three digits of each foot longer than the first and third ; fur bristly; tail short, scaly. Palate much compressed. Incisors grooved. Molars broader than in Mus. 18. Echinothrix(=Echiothrix),Gray, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 599(1867). Head elongate, muzzle produced ; fur mixed with flattened spines ; tail long, scaly. Facial portion of skull greatly elongated ; nasals very narrow ; palate much compressed ; incisive foramina long; coronoid process small. Incisors grooved. First upper molars large, with three ridges, second with one only ; third small, simple, subcircular. 19. Uromys, Peters, Monatsb. Ak. Berlin, 1867, p. 343 (1867). External characters as in Mus; but the caudal scales thick, polygonal, and not overlapping, auditory bullae and incisive foramina smaller, and pterygoid processes more like those of Hapalotis. 20. Hapalotis, Lichtenstein, Darst. neu. Saugeth. Th. iv. pl. 29 (1829). Muzzle produced ; ears long, tapered, sparsely haired outside ; hind limbs elongated; fur soft; tail long, hairy, terminating in a pencil. Skull with no distinct occipital crest or supraorbital ridges; incisive foramina very large; coronoid process obsolete. Incisors plain. Molars as in Mus. 21. Acomys, Is. Geoffroy, Ann. Sc. Nat. 2me ser. x. p. 126 (1840). Fur mixed with flattened spines, especially on the head and back ; tail short, scaly. Skull as in Mus, but the pterygoid fossae more shallow, and the incisive foramina extremely small; coronoid process little developed. Teeth as in Mus. 22. Nesomys,Peters, Sitzungs-Ber.Gesell. nat.Freunde, 1870,p.54 (1871). Form murine; upper lip grooved, not cleft; ears and eyes large; 6* |
