INSECT-EATING MAMMALS. 47 



section a position similar to that held by the water-shrew in the red-toothed 

 division of the family. Of these, the swimming shrews (Cfiimarroyale) are 

 represented by one species from the Himalaya, the hills north of Burma, and 

 the mountains of North Borneo, and by a second from Japan. They have 

 28 teeth, the long tail with a fringe of elongated hair beneath, small ears, and 

 the toes free. On the other hand, the web-footed shrew (Nectogale elegans) 

 of Tibet, while agreeing with the last in the number of its teeth, differs in the 

 absence of external ear-conches, its webbed toes, and in the development of the 

 pads on the soles of the hind- feet into adhesive suckers, the tail being longer 

 than the body. Probably this shrew is more completely aquatic than any 

 other member of the family. Its eyes are very minute, and the dark velvety 

 fur of the upper parts displays a beautiful iridescent lustre. 



Although the common mole is sufficiently distinct from a shrew, other 

 forms so closely connect the Talpidce with the Soricidce that internal char- 

 acters have to be relied on to distinguish the two families. The 

 present family may, however, be differentiated from the last The Desmans and 

 by the presence of a bony zygomatic arch in the skull, and Moles. Family 

 likewise by the development of a distinct auditory bulla in Talpidce. 

 the same, as well as by the conformation of the teeth. The 

 eyes are always small, and may be covered by the skin ; the short ears are 

 buried in the dense fur ; the fore-limbs are generally modified either for dig- 

 ging or swimming ; there is no median union of the pubic portion of the 

 pelvis on the under surface of the body ; in the lower leg the tibia and 

 fibula are welded into a single bone ; and the first pair of incisor teeth in 

 each jaw are of simple structure, and the lower pair do not project forwards. 

 Thf- range of the family includes the temperate portions of Europe, Asia, and 

 North America, two moles only occurring south of the Himalaya. A few 

 species are cursorial, and the desmans are aquatic, but the majority of the 

 family are fossorial in their habits. 



The two species of desman (Myogale) are the typical representatives of a 

 section of the family in which the collar-bones and humerus or upper arm 

 bone, are moderately elongated, and the front 

 paws have no additional sickle-shaped bone. 

 As a genus, the desmans are specially distin- 

 guished by the possession of 44 teeth, their 

 webbed feet, the long, trunk-like snout, 

 which projects far in advance of the upper lip, 

 and the long scaly tail. The Russian desman 

 (M. Moschata), which measures about 16 

 inches in length, has a compressed tail ; 

 whereas in the much smaller Pyrenean species 

 (M pyrenaica) the tail is cylindrical, and the 

 snout relatively longer Both inhabit the ^.-RUSSIAN DESMAN 



banks of rivers and lakes, are excellent (Myogale moschata). 



swimmers, and live on water-insects and snails. 



The shrew-moles, of which there are two genera, form a connecting link 

 between the moles and shrews. In Urotrichus, of which there is one 

 Japanese and one North American species (the latter being separated by 

 some as Neurotrichus), there are 36 teeth, and the broad fore-paws are adapted 

 for digging ; whereas in the single Tibetan species of Uropsilus there are 

 34 teeth, the fore-paws are narrow, and the tail is naked and scaly. 



The North American web-footed moles (Sccdops) belong to the second 



