730 



RODENTIA 



antero-external often communicating) and a posterior transverse 

 loop ; each side with three salient and three re-entrant angles ; 

 7H.3 with the same elements as m., but smaller and less well- 

 defined, both first and second pair of triangles tending to open 

 into each other, though the two pairs are normally separated. 



Hemarlcs. — So far as is at j^resent known Arvicola amjMbius 

 is confined to Great Britain. Among the continental species it 

 finds its nearest relative in A. sajiidus of Spain and southern 

 France. Two local races appear to be represented among the 

 specimens examined, though their status is not well defined. 



AiivicoLA AMPiiiBlus AMPHiBius Linmeus. 



1758. [Mus] ampliibius Liunseus, Syst. Nat., i, lOfch ed., p. 61 (England : 

 based on the Mus 7najor aqiiaticus of Ray, Quadr., p. 217). 



1816. '} Arvicola aquatica Leach, Syst. Catal. Spec. Indig. ]\Iamm. and 



Birds, Brit. Mus., p. 7 (nomen nudum : " Water Camx^agnol "). 



1817. Lcnimus aquaticus F. Cuvier, Diet, des Sci. Nat., vi, p. 306, part 



(substitute for amithibius). 

 1842. Arvicola amcricana Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., x, p. 226 (half- 

 grown individuals supposed to have been taken in South America). 



Go-types in British Museum. 

 1845. ? [Arvicola amphihiics] sub-var. nigricans de S61ys-Longchamps, Atti 



della sesta Riunione degli Scienziati Italiani, Milano, 1844, p. 322 



(nomen nudum). 

 1857. Arvicola amphibius a. Blasius, Siiugethiere Deutschlands, p. 344 



(part). 

 1910. Arvicola ampliibius avivliibizis Miller, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 



XXIII, p. 19, March 23, 1910. 

 1910. Arvicola amphibius Trouessart, Faune Mamm. d' Europe, p. ix. 



Tyjje locality. — England. 



Gco<jrap1iical distribution. — England and southern Scotland ; 

 exact northern limits of range not known. 



Diagnosis. — Size maximum for the species (hind foot in 

 adults usually 32 to 35 mm., condylobasal length of skull, 42 mm. 

 or more) ; colour moderately dark, the black rarely in excess of 

 brown on upper parts ; melanism infrequent. 



Measurements. — Adult male from Diss, Norfolk : head and 

 body, 206 ; tail, 139 ; hind foot, 35. Adult female from Cheadle, 

 Staffordshire: head and body, 185; tail, 118; hind foot, 33. 

 Adult female from Shalford, Surrey : head and body, 201 ; 

 tail, 117; hind foot, 33; ear, 17. Adult male from Garrett 

 Park Lake, Eaidsfield, Surrey: head and body, 193; tail, 128; 

 hind foot, 35 ; ear, 16. Adult male from Minster, I. of Thanet, 

 Kent: head and body, 168; tail, 120; hind foot, 32; ear, 18. 

 Adult from Horsham, Sussex : head and body, 186 ; tail, 130 ; 

 hind foot, 33. For cranial measurements see Table, p. 736. 



Specimens examined. — Seventy-two, from the following localities : — 

 Scotland : Blackwood, Lanarkshire, 3 (Edinburgh) ; Stockbriggs, 

 Lanarkshire, 1 ; Bargsly, Kirkcudbright, 1 ; Stirling, 1. 



