112 RODENTIA. 



Spalax typhlus. 



Spalax tyjyhlus, Keys. u. Blas. Sp. 31 ; Schixz, Eiirop. Faun. vol. i. 



p. 65 ; Pallas, Zoog. Ross. As. 

 Aspalax ty2)hhcs, Desm. Manim. Sp. 518. 

 Podolian Marmot, Pennant. 



Description. — Xo eyes \isible, but they exist beneath the 

 skin, and are very minute, not being larger than a grain of 

 turnip-seed, and can have no power of vision, the skin and 

 fur over them being as thick as on the rest of the face ; 

 about the size of the Common Eat ; body cylindrical ; head 

 thick and angular ; a ridge extends from the nostrils to the 

 ear on each side ; mouth small, higher than wide ; lower 

 incisors twice as long as the upper, wedge-shaped, not 

 covered by the lip, which is shorter than the upper one ; 

 external ears almost none, but the internal organs of 

 hearing much developed ; tail none ; feet short, with five 

 toes; two inguinal teats. Fur composed of short hairs, 

 which are blackish ash at the base, reddish at the tips, 

 giving to the animal a general grey colour, varied with 

 reddish ; the front of the head and the body beneath are 

 blackish. 



Length of the head and body, 7 inches 7^ lines ; head, 

 1 inch 9 lines ; vertical height of the head, 1 inch 6 lines ; 

 width of ditto, 2 inches 1 line. — F. M. 



Lives beneath the ground, in societies, burrowing hke 

 the Mole, and seldom coming to the surface, but remaining 

 in its subterranean tunnels, along which it moves back^A'ards 

 and forwards mth almost equal facility ; prefers the plains 

 to hilly regions ; feeds on the roots of grass and other 

 plants. 



Is found through Southern Russia, from the borders of 

 Poland to the Volga and the Caucasus, and especially in the 

 Ukraine ; in Hungary, Molda\da, and Bessarabia. Blasius 



