SCIENTIFIC RESULTS FROM THE MAMMAL SURVEY. 415 



better than the wretched and scanty material bequeathed to us by 

 the pioneers of Indian mammalogy. 



Sclater (^Cat. Mamrn. Ind. Mus. Calcutta, 1891, Pt. II, p. 67) 

 lists specimens of " nitidus " from Assam and Manip^^r ; but without 

 seeing the material it is, of course, impossible to say whether it is 

 correctly determined or not. Mr. F. M. D. Mackenzie, collecting 

 in the Chin Hills for the Mammal Survey, has recently obtained 

 there some specimens, which are undoubtedly referable to 7l. nitidus. 

 They differ from the typical Himalayan form described above and 

 may therefore be referred to a distinct subspecies, which 1 propose 

 to call : — 



Rattus nitidus ohsoletus, subsp. n. 



1916. Eatttts ritfescens,MVvoughton, Report No. 2b, J. Bombay 

 N. H. Soc, xxiv, 771. 



Type:— A female (B. M. 16.3.26.52 ; Original No. 309) collect- 

 ed on the Chin Hills, at a point 50 miles west of Kindat, altitude 

 5,000', on 23 April, 1915, for the Mammal Survey, by Mr. F. M. 

 D. Mackenzie ; presented to the British Museum by the Bombay 

 Natural History Society. 



Material examined : — Chin Hills (5,000') : (1) 50 miles west of 

 Kindat, 4 ( 1 j , 3 $ ) ; (2) 65 miles west of Kindat, 1 adult 

 ( $ , No. 428) ; and 9 yoinig specimens in dusky juvenal pelage, 

 from same district. 



Vescriptiov, : — General character much as in typical nitidus, but 

 with still shorter tail, and considerably shorter and thinner fur. 

 The dorsal colour differs little from that of true nitidus, but the 

 belly is clothed with much shorter fur and shows a rusty suffusion, 

 recalling the underparts of " rufescens ". The feet are of the 

 normal dirty white or yellow colour, and the tail is dusk}^ above 

 and below, throughout. The females show a constant mammary 

 formula of 3-3=12. The following are the dimensions of the 

 adu.lts :— 



27 April 1915187-175-34.5-21.5=100- 94-18.5-11.5 

 ., 178-165-35-23 =100- 93-19.6-12.9 

 „ 161-165-34-22 =100-103-21.1-13-7 

 , 143-140-34-20 =100- 98-23.8-14 

 ,, 174-186-37-23.5 =100-107-21.3-13.5 

 168-166-34.9-22 =100- 99-20.7-13.1 



The skull agrees closely in form and size with that of typical 

 nitidus. From the relative dimensions given in the table II (J), 

 part III, it will be seen that the nasals are a little shorter and 

 broader, the post-molar length a little greater relatively than in the 



