332 



MICROTIN^ 



Genotype. — Arvicola fertilis True. 



Range. — Himalayan portions of the Punjab and Kashmir, 

 northwards as far as Gilgit. 



Characters. — Fur short and dense, softer and finer than in 

 Alticola; in one species {H. wynnei) almost mole-like. Vibrissse 

 short and weak. Eyes very small. Ears small, simple, and 

 suborbicular ; sometimes concealed by the fur, sometimes visible 

 above it. Hands and feet normal ; with long and slender claws, 

 those of the hand thinner and slightly longer than those of the 

 foot. Pollex small, provided with a flattened nail. Palmar 



Fig. 95. — Cheek-teeth of Hyperacrius. 



a, a'. H. fertilis True. Right upper and left lower molars. 



b, h'. H. icynnei Blanford. Left upper and right lower molars. 



tubercles 5 ; plantar tubercles 5 ; soles hairy between the posterior 

 pad and the heel. Tail short, its length varying from about 

 one-third to about one-fifth of the head and body measurement, 

 fully clothed with hair ; hairs of ventral surface of tail extending 

 backwards noticeably beyond the true tail-tip. Mammse, 

 1 — 2=6; pectoral mammse represented by a single pair 

 situated considerably behind the axillae, at a point just behind 

 the place where the elbow comes in contact with the body when 

 the fore-limb is folded against the chest. 



Skull highly modified. Bony palate essentially as in Evotomys 

 and Alticola. Temporal ridges, in adult skulls, fusing to form a 

 weak but linear sagittal crest in the interorbital region ; squamo- 



