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Show 234 DR. J. ANDERSON ON ASIATIC SHREWS. [Mar. 4, indicate that it is fully growu. If it should prove to be new, I would indicate it as Pachyura assamensis. Jerdon, under the name of S. hodgsoni, Blyth, evidently includes two Shrews, the S. pygmceus of Hodgson and the S. hodgsonii of Blyth. Hodgson's Shrew is described by himself as having the structure of a typical Sorex, which would lead to the conclusion that it was a member of the group with white teeth (Pachyura), because he apparently regarded the leucodontide species (P. indica) as typical Sorices. H e gave the measurements of his S. pygmceus as, snout to veut less than 2 inches, tail l-^g, head^-, palms \, planta §. Blyth was undecided whether his so-called 8. hodgsoni might not be a female of Crocidura perottetii; and in its measurements it is allied to that species. They are as follows :-head and body 1^ inch, tail 1, hind foot and claws \^, skull somewhat exceeding f-. The measurements, however, given by Hodgson of his S. pygmceus, only less than 2 inches, would appear to indicate that it was a considerably larger species than Blyth's hypothetical C. perottetii, and that it therefore cannot be regarded as a synonym of the species described by Blyth under that name ; and as the latter differs from true C. perottetii in other important characters, both Hodgson's and Blyth's species appear to be distinct Shrews, and must be regarded as such until they are found to be otherwise. Both appear to be Pachyuree ; and the two species stand as P. pygmceus, Hodg., and P. hodgsoni, Blyth. The species which I have just described I should be inclined to refer to the latter for the reasons already stated. The identity or non-identity, however, of these so-called species must remain unsettled until further materials are obtaiued from the localities whence they were originally procured, viz. Darjeeling and Calcutta. I have received a single specimen from Cherra Punji, Khasya hills, that in the shortness of its anterior upper incisors agrees with Blyth's 8. heterodon. It is a Crocidura, however, with the dental formula A^+2~r"dhs:=28- ***ts s^u ^ 1& t n a t 0I*an adult. Measurements of Skull. From inferior border of foramen magnum to anterior end of the intermaxillary Posterior margin of palate to extremity of intermaxillary .... Length of alveolar surface of maxilla Greatest breadth across maxilla Breadth across intermaxillaries at tip of snout Breadth in front of glenoid articulation Breadth of skull on a line with posterior extremity of alveolar surface of maxilla Greatest breadth of skull From glenoid articulation to inferior margin of foramen magnum Length of lower jaw from angle (exclusive of process) to anterior margin Depth before coronoid process inch. 71 35 35 27 08 21 19 35 23 35 08 |
