OCR Text |
Show 1881.] INDIAN SPECIES OF MUS. 531 into transverse laminae as in Nesokia. Pollex truncated, with a short nail, all the other digits with sharp compressed claws. To Mus as thus strictly limited I refer 12 of the species of Muridee that have as yet been found within our limits ; but there can be no doubt that several more species either hitherto undescribed, or only known from Assam and Burmah, will yet be found in Sikhim and the surrounding region. On the other hand, it seems improbable that there are many more species to be recorded from the peninsula of India, though the discovery of such a distinct form as Mus blanfordi shows that this region is not as yet absolutely worked out. The following synopsis will, I hope, be of use to persons wishing to determine specimens of this difficult group ; but it will as a rule be necessary for those who consult it to examine properly preserved spirit or fresh specimens, as the characters used are not such as can be easily made out on dried skins. Wherever stress is laid on the proportion of any part to the head and body, it must be remembered that fresh specimens always have the trunk distinctly larger in proportion to the extremities than those preserved in spirit, and that all m y measurements are of necessity from the latter. It will therefore sometimes happen that in a fresh specimen the tail is slightly shorter than the head and body when I have here stated it to be longer; but a reference to the detailed descriptions will always obviate any difficulty this may cause. I. Hind feet with 6 well-defined foot-pads. A. Large, 4\ to 9 inches; last hind foot-pad elongated.-BATS. a. Whole of tail covered with short hairs ; upperside of tail dark-coloured. 8-12 mammae. a. Tail dark above and below. a'. Tail shorter than head and body; 10-12mammas; hind foot 1*5-1*7. 1. M. decumanus, p. 532. b'. Tail longer than head and body. a". Anterior edge of zygoma-root with a strongly marked rounded angle above. 10-12 mammae; hind foot 1*2-1*45 2. M. alexandrinus, p. 533. b". Anterior edge of zygoma-root nearly perpendicular ; hind foot •95-1*05 3. M. fulvescens, p. 537. /3. Tail sharply bicolor, dark above and white below. 8 mammae. c'. Back bright rufous ; tail much longer than head and body; hind foot 1*0-1*15 4. M.jerdoni, p. 537, d'. Back yellowish grey ; tail barely longer than head and body; hind foot 1 0 5. M. niveiventer, 540. b. Distal third of tail with longer hairs, white above and below. 6 mamma-;. e'. Hind foot 1*2-1*35 6. M. blanfordi, p. 541. |