MAMMALS SORICINAE BLARINA BERLANDIERI. 



53 



List of specimens. 



BLARINA BERLANDIEKI. 



Sp CH. Size small Fur very full and velvet-like ; hairs scarcely exceeding one line. Feet moderate ; hand less than 3] 

 lines, foot less than five. Tail considerably shorter than the head. 



Color above, hoary chestnut-brown, with a tinge of olivaceous ; beneath, yellow brownish-white. Line of separation between 

 color of upper and under surfaces of tail not distinct. Teeth much larger than in other species. Head and body, two inches. 

 Tail less than three-quarters of an inch. Teeth, 30. 



Size small ; body moderately stout. Fur very full, compact and soft, but short, scarcely 

 exceeding one line ; on the thorax and breast it stands almost erect in a short pile. Ears small, 

 inconspicuous, concealed by the fur ; the auricle naked on the external face, very rudimentary, 

 compared with antitragus and antihelix. The feet though short are stout and broad ; the 

 anterior contained less than one and a half times in the posterior. Soles hairy at the heel. The 

 tail is about equal to the head, or a little shorter ; slender, thinly coated with hair, and with a 

 slight pencil at the tip. 



The colors of this species cannot be given with any great degree of accuracy, as long immer 

 sion of the specimens in alcohol has probably produced some alteration. In one, the prevailing 

 tint is a chestnut brown at the tips of the hairs, with paler next to the tips, producing a slight 

 hoariness. The under parts are a yellowish brownish white j the line of demarcation on the 

 sides quite indistinct. The tail is similarly colored ; but the difference in color between the 

 under and upper surfaces is scarcely appreciable. In another specimen the upper parts are 

 darker, with a tinge of purplish ; the under parts more yellowish. 



The cranium is wanting in the specimens examined. The dental formula is g- + 2 2 h sEs = 30. 

 The teeth are all unusually large in proportion to the size of the skull and of the animal. The 

 anterior upper incisor has a conical process at base not a hook the point of which does not 

 come down to the level of the next two teeth. The first of these teeth is rather shorter than 

 the second ; both are unusually long, pointed, and perpendicular, quite canine in appearance ; 

 not so oblique as in other species. The third tooth is not half as long as the second, and is 

 placed close to the first molar ; the molars are very large. The fourth lateral tooth is very 

 small, and not visible from outside. The lower anterior incisor has two serrated lobes on the 

 cutting edge. All the teeth are well colored on the crowns ; darkest on the points. 



