Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Part 57

SIZE.--Head and body, 13 inches; tail, 5-1/2 inches. Hodgson kept some of this species in his garden for some time. They were somnolent by day, active by night, and did not hybernate in Nepal. They were fed on grain and fruit, and would chatter a good deal over their meals, but in general were silent. They slept rolled up into a ball, were tame and gentle usually, but sometimes bit and scratched like rabbits, uttering a similar cry.

NO. 313. ARCTOMYS AUREUS.

_The Golden Marmot_.

HABITAT.--Yarkand, Kaskasee pa.s.s, 13,000 feet, on the road from Kashgar to Sarikol and the Pamir.

DESCRIPTION.--after Blanford, who described and named this species ('Jour. As. Soc. Beng.' 1875): "General colour tawny to rich brownish-yellow, the dorsal portion conspicuously tinged with black from all the hairs having black tips, but these are far more conspicuous in some specimens (males?) than in others; face grey to blackish, with a rufous tinge covered with black and whitish hairs mixed, about half an inch long on the forehead. The black hairs on the face are more prevalent in those specimens (perhaps males) which have the blackest backs; the middle of the forehead is in some cases more fulvous. On the end of the nose is a blackish-brown patch, and there is a narrow band of black hairs with a few white mixed round the lips; the sides of the nose are paler; whiskers black. Hairs of the back, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inches long, much mixed with woolly fibres, dark slaty at the extreme base for about a quarter inch, then pale straw colour, becoming deeper golden yellow towards the extremity, the end black. In the blackest specimens the black tips are wanting on the posterior portion of the back. Tail yellow, the same colour as the rump, except the tip, which is black, from a length varying from an inch to about 2-1/2 inches (in three specimens out of four it does not exceed an inch); hairs of the tail about two inches long, brown at the base. Lower parts rather browner, and sometimes with a rufous wash; the hairs shorter and thinner, chocolate brown at the base without the short woolly under fur, which is very thick on the back. Feet above yellowish-tawny, like the sides" ('Scientific Results of the Second Yarkand Mission': Mammalia).

SIZE.--Head and body, 16 to 18 inches; tail, 5 to 6 inches. Though this agrees in size with _A. Hemachala.n.u.s_ it differs considerably in colour, and, according to Mr. Blanford, also in the skull. There is a beautifully drawn and coloured plate of this marmot in the work from which I have just quoted; also of _A. Himalaya.n.u.s_ and _A.

caudatus_.

NO. 314. ARCTOMYS DICHROUS.

HABITAT.--Afghanistan; mountainous country north of Cabul.

DESCRIPTION.--Less yellow than the last, without any black on the back, and having the upper parts pale dull tawny, and the lower rufous brown. The tail concolorous with the belly, tinged here and there with rich rufous brown, the tip paling to nearly yellowish-brown.

SIZE.--Head and body, 17 inches; tail, 6-1/2 inches.--_Anderson_, 'Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.,' vol. xvi. 1875.

NO. 315. ARCTOMYS ROBUSTUS.

Is a Thibetan species, described by Prof. Milne-Edwards, 'Recherches sur les Mammiferes,' p. 309. I have not the work by me just now.

SECTION II.--MYOMORPHA--RAT-LIKE RODENTS.

The second section of the order GLIRES, containing the following families--those that are not Indian being in italics:--

_Myoxidiae_, _Lophiomyidae_, Muridae, Spalacidae, _Geomyidae_, _Theridomyidae_ (fossil), Dipodidae.

The molar dent.i.tion is from 3--3/3--3 to 6--6/6--6, the former being the usual number; the tibia and fibula are united for at least a third of their length; the zygomatic arch is slender, and the malar process rarely extends so far forwards as in the preceding section, and is generally supported below by a continuation of the maxillary zygomatic process; the collar-bones are perfect (except in _Lophiomyidae_). Upper lip cleft; the m.u.f.fle small and naked; tail cylindrical, sometimes hairy, but commonly covered with scales arranged in rings.

In all the Indian mammalogy this section is probably the most difficult to write about. Our knowledge of the smaller rodents is extremely imperfect, and is just engaging increased attention. In the meanwhile I feel that, while I make use of such material as is now available, before long much will have to be revised and corrected after the exhaustive inquiries now being made by Dr. Anderson are published.

The Indian families with which we have to deal are but three--the _Muridae_, _Spalacidae_, and the _Dipodidae_. The _Arvicolidae_ of Jerdon's work is merely a sub-family of _Muridae_. Of these the _Muridae_ take the first place, as containing the greater number of genera. It is estimated that the total number of species known of this family throughout the world exceed 330, of which probably not more than one-fourth or fifth are to be found in India and adjacent countries.

FAMILY MURIDAE.

CHARACTER.--"Lower incisors compressed; no premolars; molars rooted or rootless, tuberculate or with angular enamel folds; frontals contracted; infra-orbital opening in typical forms high, perpendicular, wide above and narrowed below, with the lower root of the maxillary zygomatic process more or less flattened into a perpendicular plate; very rarely the opening is either large and oval, or small and sub-triangular. Malar short and slender, generally reduced to a splint between the maxillary and squamosal processes; external characters very variable; pollex rudimentary, but often with a small nail; tail generally sub-naked and scaly, rarely densely haired."--_Alston_, 'P. Z. S.' 1876.

This family is divided into about ten sub-families, of which the Indian ones are as follows: _Platacanthyominae_; _Gerbillinae_; _Phlaeomyinae_; _Murinae_; _Arvicolinae_; _Cricetinae_.

The other four are _Sminthinae_, _Hydromyinae_, _Dendromyinae_, and _Siphneinae_, none of which are found within our limits.

_GENUS PLATACANTHOMYS_.

CHARACTER.--Molars 3/3, divided into transverse laminae; infra-orbital opening as in typical _Muridae_; incisive foramina and auditory bullae small; form _myoxine_ (or dormouse-like); fur mixed with flat spines; tail densely hairy. The general resemblance of this animal to the dormouse (_Myoxus_) is striking, to which its hairy tail and its habits conduce, but on closer examination its small eyes, thin ears, short thumb of the fore-foot bring it into the murine family. The genus was first noted and named by Blyth, who seemed inclined to cla.s.s it as a dormouse, but this has not been upheld for the reasons given above, and also that _Platacanthomys_ has the normal _murine_ number of molars, viz.: 3--3/3--3, whereas _Myoxus_ has an additional premolar above and below. These points were first brought to notice by Prof. Peters of Berlin (_see_ 'P. Z. S.' 1865, p. 397). There is a coloured plate of the animal in the same volume, but it is not so well executed as most of the ill.u.s.trations in the Society's works.

NO. 316. PLATACANTHOMYS LASIURUS.

_The Long-tailed Spiny Mouse_ (_Jerdon's No. 198_).

HABITAT.--Southern India.

DESCRIPTION.--Light rufescent brown; the under fur paler, more rufous on the forehead and crown; whiskers black; under parts dull white; the hairs on the tail, which are arranged distichously, are darker than those of the body, infuscated except at the tip of the tail, where they are whitish; the muzzle is acute; ears moderate and naked; the fur above is mixed densely with sharp flat spines; the under coat is delicate and fine; the few spines on the lower parts are smaller and finer; the thumb is without a nail.

SIZE.--Head and body, 6 inches; tail, 3-1/2, or five inches including the hair; planta, 1 inch.

This species was discovered by the Rev. Mr. Baker in the Western Ghats of Malabar, and in Cochin and Travancore, at an elevation of about 3000 feet. He writes of it: "It lives in clefts in the rocks and hollow trees, and is said to h.o.a.rd ears of grain and roots, seldom comes into the native huts, and in that particular neighbourhood the hillmen told me they are very numerous. I know they are to be found in the rocky mountains of Travancore, but I have never met with them on the plains." In another place he adds: "I have been spending the last three weeks in the Ghats, and, amongst other things, had a great hunt for the new spiny dormice. They are most abundant, I find, in the elevated vales and ravines, living only in the magnificent old trees there, in which they hollow out little cavities, filling them with leaves and moss. The hill people call them the 'pepper-rat,'

from their destroying large quant.i.ties of ripe pepper (_Piper nigrum_). Angely and jackfruit (_Artocarpus ovalifolia_ and _integrifolia_) are much subject to their ravages. Large numbers of the _shunda_ palm (_Caryota_) are found in these hills, and toddy is collected from them. These dormice eat through the covering of the pot as suspended, and enjoy themselves. Two were brought to me in the pots half drowned. I procured in one morning sixteen specimens.

The method employed in obtaining them was to tie long bamboos (with thin little branches left on them to climb by) to the trees; and, when the hole was reached, the man cut the entrance large enough to admit his hand, and took out the nest with the animals rolled up in it, put the whole into a bag made of bark, and brought it down. They actually reached the bottom sometimes without being disturbed. It was very wet, cold weather, and they may have been somewhat torpid; but I started a large brown rat at the foot of one of these trees, which ran up the stem into a hole, and four dormice were out in a minute from it, apparently in terror of their large friend. There were no traces of h.o.a.rding in any of the holes, but the soft bark of the trees was a good deal gnawed in places. I had two of these dormice alive for some time, but, as they bit and gnawed at everything intended to keep them in durance, I was obliged to kill both. I noticed that when their tails were elevated, the hairs were perfectly erect like a bottle-brush" ('Proc. As. Soc. Beng.' 1859, p. 290).

SUB-FAMILY GERBILLINAE.

Incisors narrow; molars divided into transverse laminae; pterygoid fossae short; auditory bullae usually large; hind limbs very long; tail long and hairy.

_GENUS GERBILLUS_.

Form murine, with the exception of the elongated hind-limbs; muzzle pointed; ears moderate and oval; eyes very large and bright; occipital region broad; auditory bullae large; upper incisors grooved; first molar with three laminae, the second with two, and third with one only; hinder tarsus and toes much elongated; the fore-limbs small; tail long and hairy, with a tuft at the end.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Dent.i.tion of _Gerbillus_ (magnified).]

NO. 317. GERBILLUS INDICUS.

_The Indian Jerboa-Rat, or Kangaroo-Rat_ (_Jerdon's No. 170_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Hirna-mus_, Hindi; _Jhenku-indur_, Sanscrit and Bengali; _Yeri-yelka_ of the Waddurs; _Tel-yelka_ of the Yanadees; _Billa-ilei_, Canarese.

HABITAT.--All over India and in Ceylon, but apparently not in Burmah.

DESCRIPTION.--Light fulvous brown above or fawn colour, paling on the sides; under-parts white; the hairs of the back are ashy at the base, with fulvous tips, a few thin black hairs intermixed chiefly on the side and cheeks.

The eyebrow is whitish; whiskers long and black and a few grey; the nose is elongated; the upper jaw projecting nearly half an inch beyond the lower; tail, which is longer than the body, is blackish above and below, pale laterally, and terminates with a black tufted tip; the ears are large and nearly naked; the eye is particularly large and l.u.s.trous, which, with its graceful bounds, have given it its Indian name of "antelope-rat" (_Hirna-mus_).

SIZE.--Head and body, about 7 inches; tail, 8-1/2 inches; fore-foot, 5/10 inch; hind-foot, 2 inches. Weight, 6-3/4 ounces.

This graceful little creature frequents bare plains and sandy country in general, where it forms extensive burrows. Hardwicke writes of it: "These animals are very numerous about cultivated lands, and particularly destructive to wheat and barley crops, of which they lay up considerable h.o.a.rds in s.p.a.cious burrows. A tribe of low-caste Hindus, called Kunjers, go in quest of them at proper seasons to plunder their h.o.a.rds, and often within the s.p.a.ce of twenty yards square find as much corn in the ear as could be crammed in a bushel."

Sir Walter Elliot's account of their burrows is most interesting.

He says: "The entrances, which are numerous, are small, from which the pa.s.sage descends with a rapid slope for two or three feet, then runs along horizontally, and sends off branches in different directions. These galleries generally terminate in chambers from half a foot to a foot in width, containing a bed of dried gra.s.s.

Sometimes one chamber communicates with another furnished in like manner, whilst others appear to be deserted, and the entrances closed with clay. The centre chamber in one burrow was very large, which the Wuddurs attributed to its being the common apartment, and said that the females occupied the smaller ones with their young. They do not h.o.a.rd their food, but issue from their burrows every evening, and run and hop about, sitting on their hind legs to look round, making astonishing leaps, and on the slightest alarm flying into their holes." This account differs from that of Hardwicke as regards the h.o.a.rding of food, and from what I can learn is the more correct.

The food of this animal is grain, gra.s.s, and roots, but Kellaart mentions certain carnivorous propensities, for one night several of them nearly devoured an albino rat which had been put into the same cage with them. McMaster says of its agility: "I have seen them when released from a trap baffle and elude dogs in the most extraordinary manner by wonderful jumps made over the backs, and apparently into the very teeth of their pursuers."