102 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.45. 



Subspecies. — Two; Twpaia nicoharica nicobarica, page 103, and 

 Twpaia nicobarica surda, page 104. 



Remarks. — As shown above, Twpaia nicobarica is a remarkably 

 distinct species and sharply separated from all other members of 

 the genus by its combination of coloration, large size, long tail, 

 large sharp claws, angular skull, large central upper incisors, and 

 large lower canmes. 



Tupaia nicobarica was probably first observed m 1846 by Captain 

 Lewis,^ who reported large squirrels as occurring on the Nicobar 

 Islands. As no squirrels were collected or reported by Abbott and 

 Kloss in 1901,- the inference is that Lewis's squirrels, like those 

 seen by Captain Cook's party on Pulo Condore,^ must have been 

 Tupaias. Zelebor mentions this treeshrew as occurring on all the 

 larger islands of the group, but particularly abundant on Great 

 Nicobar; but as no specimens were collected or reported on other 

 islands than Little and Great Nicobar, by Abbott and Kloss, it 

 would seem that Zelebor's statement is too general. Apparently 

 Tupaia nicobarica is a rather conspicuous and noisy treeshrew, 

 otherwise it would not have called forth the few comments that 

 have been made regarding it. Zelebor says it cries frequently and 

 prolonged ' ' Danh-Danh ' ' when disturbed or pursued. Doctor Abbott 

 remarks of them, ''Common m the heavy jungle which covers the 

 island (Little Nicobar); very active and generally in the tree tops." 

 EHoss ^ writes : " They were very common (Little Nicobar); but unlike 

 their representatives in the Malay Peninsula, etc., which are ground 

 animals, we saw them only in trees. Tupais were plentiful (Great 

 Nicobar). These appear to be entirely arboreal in habits and are 

 quite as active as squirrels in ruxming along branches, or climbing 

 about amongst smaller twigs in search of msects. Their cry is a sort 

 of trilling squeak, which is easily confounded with the call of a 

 bu'd." The rather large, compressed, sharp claws and the long tail 

 also lead one to believe it more arboreal than most of its relatives. 



As to the origin of this treeshrew on the Nicobars it is impossible 

 to say. It is so unlike any of the other treeshrews at present known 

 that it seems highly improbable that it can be descended from any 

 of them, should they have been accidentally carried to the islands, 

 or have been brought there by man. On the other hand, if Tupaia 

 nicobarica is the survivor of an old wide-ranging species, one would 

 expect to find other mammals surviving with it. As Mr. Miller shows, 

 the mammals of the Nicobars, "with the single exception of Tupaia 

 nicobarica^ are all types well known to be closely associated with 



1 Joum. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. IS, p. 368. 



2 Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 24, pp. 751-795, May 29, 1902. 



3 See account of Tupaia dissimilis in the present paper, p. 67. 

 * In the Andamans and Nicobars, 1903, pp. 122, 136. 



