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Show 1 9 0 5 .] MAMMALS OF CHINA. 3 8 5 8. Mus loseci Swinh. 9. Mus griseipectus A. M.-E. 10. Mus norvegicus Erxl. 11. Mus humiliatus A. M.-E. 12. Mus musculus Linn. 13. Micromys sylvaticus chevrieri A. M.-E. 14. Micromys sylvaticus draco Barr.-Hamilton. 15. Micromys minutus pygmceus A. M.-E. 16. Micromys agrarius manchuricus Thos. 17. Micromys agrarius ningpoensis Swinh. Mus EDWARDSI TllOS. Mus edwardsi Thos. P. Z. S. 1882, p. 587, pi. xliv.; Thos. P. Z. S. 1898, p. 773; Bonh. Fasc. Malayenses, Zool. vol. i. pp. 33 & 36 (1903). This species was originally described from four examples sent to Paris by Pere David. The type is in the B.M. 82.6.16.1, the other three examples being in Paris and dated October 1872. This is a very large Rat belonging to the jerdoni group, of which it is typical of the subgroup bearing its name. The British Museum now possesses a fine series of these Rats from Kuatun in N.W. Fokien. They seem to be very uniform and show remarkably little variation. The general colour is yellowish grey, some specimens being-much yellower than others. Each hair is slate-grey at its base and fulvous for the distal half, and interspersed among these hairs are long slender spines with dark tips as well as long black bristles. On the flanks, owing to the absence of the black bristles, the fulvous colour of the fur proper is more visible. The under parts are pure white. The tail is equal in length to the head and body, markedly bicolor, and covered with short hairs, while the last two or three inches are pure white. The feet are uniform dark brown with white margins and toes. Whiskers very long and entirely black with the exception of a few shorter white ones. The skull partakes of the usual characters associated with the jerdoni group, e. g., long, narrow, flat, and with small bullae. The supraorbital ridges are well defined over the orbits and slightly flattened so as to produce a comparatively broad upper surface; they end somewhat abruptly about halfway across the parietals. Below, owing to the smallness of the bullae, the basioccipital presents a broad surface and the external condyles are well developed. The dimensions (as given by Thomas and rendered into millimetres) are as follows :-Head and body 300; tail 289 ; hind foot 57; ear 24. Skull. Greatest breadth 57 mm.; basilar length 44 ; palatal length 24-5 ; diastema 15 ; incisive foramina 10 ; length of nasals 22-5 ; zygomatic breadth 26 ; interorbital breadth 9-5 ; breadth of brain-case 22 ; length of molar series (alveoli) 11. |