Descriptions of East Asiatic Mammals 269 
differs from other local Microtines by being very long-haired, 
and is further distinguished by having broad, grooved incisor 
teeth. The ears are rather small. This anatomically peculiar 
Vole is colored dull brown. The underparts are ' 'slaty drab, 
washed with brownish white" (Thomas), the feet white, the 
tail brown above and white below. The length of the nead and 
body is 4 inches, tail 1% inches, hind foot % inch. Only one 
specimen is known. 
THE BAMBOO RATS (FAMILY RHIZOMYID^) 
The Bamboo Rats, which externally resemble the American 
Pocket Gophers, comprise three genera, all very similar to one 
another. They have thick, heavy bodies, short legs equipped with 
stout digging claws, very short tails, but no cheek pouches. 
Two of the genera, Rhizomys and Cannomys, of which the 
first is the larger, occur in eastern Asia. 
The Chinese Bamboo Rat, Rhizomys sinensis, and other 
closely related races are somewhat variable in color and size. 
The fur is silky brownish gray above and beneath. The skull 
is wide and triangular, and the back of it provides broad, sloping 
expanses of bone to which are attached the immensely powerful 
neck muscles. The length of the head and body varies in differ- 
ent races from 9 to 10 inches, the tail from 2 to 3% inches, 
hind foot 1% inches. 
The animal, which spends much of its life underground, feeds 
upon the roots and shoots of bamboo, grass, seeds, certain 
fruits, and doubtless other plants. It is found in Fukien, Yunnan, 
and Szechwan. Ward's Bamboo Rat, the race R. s. wardi, occurs 
in northern Burma at about 9000 feet. 
The Hoary Bamboo Rat, R. priiinosus, found in the ex- 
treme south of China from Kwangtung to southern Yunnan 
and Assam and south into Tonkin, is recognized by its slaty 
fur flecked with numerous whitish tips. The head and body in 
