ERINACEID& 



619 



hind limbs relatively shorter, and proboscis longer than in the type 

 genus ; four digits in each foot. Four closely allied species have 

 been described from East Africa. The head and body of the type 



Fio. 234. Macroscelides tetradactylus. x|. (From Peters, Reise iiach Mossambique.) 



species measures about 8 inches in length ; and the long tail is 

 covered with a ringed skin, sparsely haired. Its habits are fossorial. 



Family ERINACEID^E. 



Skull with a small brain-case ; no postorbital process ; slender 

 and occasionally imperfect zygomatic arch, and an annular tympanic, 

 which does not form a bulla. Upper molars with four principal 

 cusps and a small central median cusp. Acromion of scapula bifid ; 

 pubic symphysis short ; radius and ulna free, but tibia and fibula 

 united proximally. No csecum ; penis carried forward and sus- 

 pended from the wall of the abdomen. Habits terrestrial. Found 

 in the Palsearctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental regions. 



Subfamily Gymnurinae. Palate completely ossified; pelvis 

 very narrow ; fur without spines. 



Gymnura. 1 Dentition : i f , c \, p ^, m f ; total 44. This 

 genus, if Hylomys is rightly included, is represented by the two 

 1 Horsfield and Vigors, Zool. Journ. vol. iii. p. 246 (1828). 



