SPALAX 887 



Mus miiscuJus, but anterior portion of ui^ broader and witli 

 two sub-ecjual tubercles nearly as large as tliose of second lamina, 

 and »»*.j relatively larger, its crown area slightly more than half 

 that of m.,. 



3lL'aHiirements. — Type (adult female) : head and body, 94 ; 

 tail, 113 ; hind foot, 18 ; ear, 19 '5. Adult male from the type 

 locality: head and body, 112; hind foot, 19; ear, 18. For 

 cranial measurements see Table opposite. 



Specimens examined ;- - 

 Cbete : Canea, 3. 



2 S, 9. Caaea, Crete. Miss D. Bate (c). 5. 12. 2. 31--33. 



(5. 12. 2. 33. Type of species.) 



Family SPALACID^. 



1821. Spalacidx Gray, Loudon Med. Repos., xv, p. 303, April 1, 1821. 



Geographical distribution. — South-eastern Europe and adjoin- 

 ing portions of Asia ; south into Egypt. 



Characters. — Form mole-like, highly modified for subterranean 

 life ; eye without external orifice ; external ear reduced to a low 

 ridge ; tail absent ; claws not specially enlarged ; skull wedge- 

 shaped, without postorbital processes, nearly half of its upper 

 surface occupied by a flattened, forward-sloping occipital shield, 

 the outer margin of which extends to level of outer border of 

 zygomatic root ; jugal short, extending forward only a little 

 beyond middle of zygoma and forming no part of anterior portion 

 of arch ; infraorbital foramen large, simple ; parapterygoid fossa 

 not closed dorsally, appearing like a large foramen ; cheek- 

 teeth ^|, rooted, hypsodont, the subterete crowns with one inner 

 and one or two outer re-entrant folds. 



Remarks. — Both externally and in the structure of the skull 

 the family Spalacid-ee exhibits a higher degree of special adapta- 

 tion to a peculiar mode of life than any other group of rodents 

 occurring in Europe. As here understood the family consists of 

 the single genus Sjxdax. 



Genus SPALAX Gueldenstaedt. 



1770. Spalax Gueldenstaedt, Nov. Comm. Acad. Sci. Imp. Petrop., xiv, 



pt. I, p. 410 (inicrophthalmus). 

 1783. Myospalax Hermann, Tabula Affinitatum Animalium, p. 83 {lax- 



manni Hermann = Spalax microphthalmos Gueldenstaedt). 

 1799. Talpoides Lac6pede, Tableau des divisions, sous-divisions, ordres et 



genres des Mammiferes, p. 10 {tijphlus). 

 1804. Aspalax Desmarest, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., xxiv, Tab. Meth. 



Mamm., p. 24 [Mus typihlus Pallas). 

 1815. A)wtis Rafinesque, Analyse de la Nature, p. 58 (Substitute for 



Talpoides Lac6pede). 



