Descriptions of East Asiatic Mammals 291 
moriv enter group, and the huang section of the confucianus- 
huang group. Most of them are tropical in range. 
1. The Tufted-tailed Lesser Spiny Rats, Rattus cremori- 
venter and relatives, range from Annam and Siam through the 
Malay Peninsula to Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. In the typical 
form from Siam, the dorsal color is reddish brown with the 
bristles tipped with blackish, the underparts creamy white. The 
slender tail is dark brown, the pencil of hairs at its tip reddish 
brown. The length of the head and body is nearly 6 inches, tail 
nearly 7 inches, hind foot 1 % inches. 
Rattus indosinicus from the Tonkin highlands, with the num- 
ber of nipples 4 pairs and the tail wholly blackish, is thought by 
Ellerman to belong to the cremoriventer group. Its head and 
body measure 5% inches, tail 7% inches, hind foot 1% inches. 
m. The Spiny-haired Lesser Rats, Rattus fulvescens 
(= jerdoni) , appear to be the tropical counterparts of the Chi- 
nese R. confucianus group. The dorsal color is reddish instead 
of slaty, the underparts white. There is a strong development of 
flat spines mixed with the normal hairs in most species, and the 
tail is generally considerably longer than the body. The length 
of the head and body in R. fulvescens is about 6 inches, tail 7 
inches, hind foot 1 to 1% inches. There is considerable varia- 
bility in size. The number of nipples in females is 8. 
These Rats are found from southern China and Formosa 
through the provinces of Burma, Indo-China, and the Malay 
Peninsula, to Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. A large number of 
races have received names. The original R. fulvescens came 
from Nepal ; a race, R. f. huang, occurs in Fukien, R. f. champa 
in Annam, R. indosinicus in Tonkin, R. f. condorensis in 
Cochin-China, R. mentosus in upper Burma, R. brahma in 
Assam, R. lepidus in Tenasserim, R. f. bukit in Jalor, Malay 
Peninsula. 
6. Medium-sized or small Rats in which the bases of the hairs 
of the underparts are gray, no matter what the color of their 
