SPECIES OF MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC AREA 115 



size of these rats varies from nine to twelve inches in total length, 

 the tail usually a little longer than the head and body. They 

 were almost certainly carried to the various islands in native 

 boats when men first settled Oceania. A number of related wild 

 species are also to be found on the Greater Sunda Islands and 

 the Philippines. 



The Bandicoot Rats (Bandicota) are partly adapted for life 

 underground, but to a far less degree than the bamboo rats, 

 described earlier. The front claws are large, the muzzle short 

 and broad. The incisor teeth are broad and the cusps of the 

 molars soon wear down to form almost straight cross-ridges. 

 The adults reach a large size — total length, eighteen or twenty 

 inches, of which the tail is almost half. Bandicoot rats are 

 found on the islands of Formosa, Sumatra, and Java, as well as 

 on the mainland. 



The Red Tree Rat (Pithecheir) of Java and Sumatra has 

 long soft reddish fur, which extends for almost an inch on the 

 base of the tail. The teeth have high cusps which remain dis- 

 tinct until old age. The size of this rat equals that of common 

 house rats. The first toe of the hind foot is thumb-like and 

 opposable, whence its scientific name meaning "ape hand." 



Shrew rats, with long wedge-shaped head and often velvety 

 fur, are found on Java, Sumatra, Celebes, and the Philippines. 



The Shrew Rat {Mycteromys) of Java and Sumatra has 

 teeth much like those of the house mouse, but the first molar is 

 about one-third larger than the other two combined, and the 

 lower incisor is longer than usual. 



The Celebes Shrew Rats (Echiothrix and Melasmothrix) 

 have unusual incisors, the upper ones short and weak, the lower 

 ones long. The first species, larger than a house rat, has spiny 

 pelage; the upper incisors are whitish rather than the yellow 

 usual in rodents, and each has a distinct groove down the face. 

 The cheek-teeth are very small. The second kind on Celebes is 

 about eight and one-half inches in total length, with the tail less 



