CHRYSOCHLORID& 639 



bulla. Upper molars tritubercular, with the crowns very tall. 

 No pubic symphysis; the tibia and fibula united. The eyes are 

 covered by the hairy integument ; the ears short and concealed by 

 the fur ; the internal generative organs are as in Centetince ; the 

 mammae are thoracic and inguinal and placed in cup-shaped depres- 

 sions. Habits fossorial. Confined to the southern part of the 

 Ethiopian region, not extending to Madagascar. 



This family is closely allied to the Centetidce, occupying the 

 same relative position with respect to that family that the Talpidce 

 does to the Soricidce. Compared with the Talpidce, we find the 

 following differences in the structural adaptation to a fossorial life ; 

 the manubrium sterni is not anteriorly elongated, neither are the 



FIG. 296. The Golden Mole (Chrysochloris oltusirostris). 



clavicles shortened ; but this is compensated for by a deep hollowing 

 out of the antero-lateral walls of the thorax, the ribs in these parts 

 and the sternum being convex inwards. The long clavicles have 

 their distal extremities pushed forward, and the concavities on the 

 sides and inferior surface of the thorax lodge the thick muscular 

 arms. 



Chrysochloris. 1 Dentition : i f , c ^, p f , m ~ ; total 40 or 36 

 Vertebra? : C 7, D 1 9, L 3, S 5, C 8. This genus includes some 

 seven or eight South African species, commonly known as Golden 

 Moles (Fig. 296). Those species, in which the molars are reduced 

 to -f , with a basal talon to the lower ones, and without a prominence 

 in the temporal fossa, have been placed in a separate genus, 

 Chakochloris, by Professor Mivart. Nearly all the species have the 

 fur of the upper surface of a brilliant metallic lustre, varying from 

 golden bronze to green and violet of different shades. The manus 



1 Lacepede, Mem. de I'lnstitut, vol. iii. p. 493 (1801 read 1799). 



