OCR Text |
Show 884.] MR. G. E. DOBSON ON CAPROMYS MELANURUS. 235 looking backwards and downwards, and open close together, that of the vagina by a transverse crescentic slit, in front of which the long prepuce of the clitoris projects. The fur of the body is rather long and woolly, made up of two kinds of hairs-a basal close moderately fine fur, light brown, with the terminal thirds of the hairs pale yellowish, and longer black hairs, which, at intervals, project; on the tail the fur is made up altogether of these long black hairs (blackish-brown in alcohol), which arise thickly from between the regular whorls of scales which cover the integument and project from the caudal extremity, forming a pencil nearly an inch in length. The head is covered with fur similar to that of the body but shorter, and the sides of the muzzle support long black vibrissas, some of which project backwards behind the head. The under surface of the head, neck, and body is slightly paler than the back The following measurements, in inches and millimetres, have been taken from an apparently adult female preserved in alcohol:-Length, head and body, measured along the back, 13" (329 mm.), ear 1" (25 mm.), eye from end of muzzle 1"*35 (34 mm.), tail 10"*5 (266 mm.), olecranon to end of middle digit (without claw) 3"*5 (88 mm.), manus to end of middle claw 1"*6 (41 mm.), pollex 0"*1 (4 mm.), middle toe (with claw) 0"*9 (23 mm.), tibia 2"*55 (65 m m . ) , pes to end of middle claw 2"*7 (68 mm.), middle toe (with claw) 1"*15 (30 mm.), hallux (with claw) 0"*6 (15 mm.). The measurements of the skull, as compared with those of the other three species of the genus, is shown below, in millimetres. Measurements of Skulls. Prom the occipital crest to tbe end of tbe nasal bones From the margin of the foramen magnum to the edge of the alveoli of the upper incisors Length of the nasal bones Length of tbe frontal bones Length of tbe parietal bones Length of the upper tooth - row Length of tbe lower tooth - row Width between inner edges of upper Width between inner edges of upper C. melanurus. 75 57 24 25 26 15* 16 4 6 C. prehensilis. 75 27 18 4 9 C. brachyurus. 82 63£ 29 27 28 19 20 4 Si C. pilorides. 101 81 36 35 21 21 5 10 The measurements of the skulls of C. pilorides and C. brachyurus, as given above, were taken from those ot evidently old animals, probably males, as shown by the development of the sagittal and occipital crests, the anchylosed condition of the suture between the 16* |