1917O H. C. Robinson: Rats from Western Java. 95 



9. Epimys fraternus, Robinson & Kloss, Journ. Straits 

 Soc. No. 73, p. 27j (1916). 

 Korinchi, West Sumatra. 

 In dealing with Oriental rats it has been the fashion to 

 regard thi ml specific character, 



almost ol . though as Thomas has pointed 



out this is /alue in South American 1 



1 be true of the series 



listed above, which are essentially mountain rats: R. Upturns 

 and R.brahma are ver) W00II5 rats without a trace of spines. 

 j spiny rat. In all however 

 lly underfur is well devi loped. R. fraternus is spiny at 

 low elf vatioi progressively more 



woolly as the altitude of its habit: ; 



bly additional wool ha loped at the 



expense of spines in those localities where in addition to the 

 fall in temperature there is a verj - in humidity. 



though 11 is fail to admit that the spiniest local rat, R. inas 

 is exclusively an inhabitant of high levels where the 

 precipitation is presumably high. 



Ratti (Jent.). 



um XXXIII, 

 [>. 69 (1910) (Pangerango, W. Java, 6,000'.) 



Of th from 



what is 1 lity. It is an inhabitant of 



intermedi re above 7.000' or below 4.500'. 



Jentink's description of this form is quite 

 except that he states that the ear is short, whereas it is 

 decidedly long for the size of the animal. 



Fur of one element only fairly long and exti 

 and soft dark grey at the base tipped with buffy or hazel in 



ffect very 



from almost liver brow n tocinnamomeous. Underparts 



which are sharply defined from the upper surface equally variable 



from almost white 10 dark silvery grey. Head more gn 1 h 



brown, sides of the n 



Feetand hands yellowish white without dark metap 

 Ears Ion n finely ringed. 



bicolor, the distal third yellowish white above and below. 



Skull: — Witl features; nasals 



decidedly spatulate, palatal f< rter and broader than 



in Upturns; mesopterygoid space narrow. Bullae small, 

 slightly flattened and verj narrow; ridges in old spi 

 fairly pronounced. Teeth very small. Anteorbital (date sloping 

 ■ 



Specimens examined : — Sixty-five, of all i 



Me:- 



Remarks:— I am unable for the present to rel 



ts ■ ci ept foi 

 its iiit 1 1 - spines. 



