1909.] 



R. E. Lloyd : The Races of Indian Rats. 



29 



smaller skull being called upon to support more massive teeth res- 

 ponded by half closing its palatine foramen. On either side of the 

 groove which indicates the closure is a bony eminence encroaching 

 on the groove; if these eminences are opened the roots of the incisor 

 teeth are discovered. The difference between the teeth of the two 

 genera is great. In the smallest Nesokia (length 134 mm.) the 

 incisors together measure 4 mm. in breadth. In one of the smallest 

 Gunomys (length 165) it is only 3 mm. The measurements of the 

 molar series are shown below. Even among the NesokicB them- 

 selves it is seen that the smallest skulls have the largest teeth not 

 only relatively, but actually. A skull 42 mm. in length has a molar 

 series of 7"5 mm. A skull of 35'5 mm. has molars of 9 mm. These 

 are extreme cases. The difference in the appearance of the two 

 skulls is striking. The skulls of Gunomys both from the Punjab 

 and Calcutta do not, however, show the same tendency. 



Measurements of ten skulls of Nesokiae from Amritsar. 



