3 22 



INSECTIVORES. 



EAFFLES'S GYMNURA. 



these Insectivores are so unlike them in external appearance that it is difficult to 

 believe in their close affinity. It must be remembered, however, that the spines of 

 the hedgehogs totally alter the appearance of the creature from what it would be, 

 if unprovided with these appendages ; and if we were to compare a gymnura with 

 a young hedgehog, in which the spines were still rudimentary, the difference in 

 appearance would not be so very marked. 



The gymnuras are distinguished from the hedgehogs by the total 



S> absence of spines ; and also by the long naked tail, from which they 



derive their name. Further points of distinction are afforded by the complete 



bony roof to the palate, and also by the larger number of teeth in the gymnuras, 



which is upwards of forty-four. 

 The large and typical number of 

 teeth characteristic of these 

 animals is, indeed, but very 

 rarely met with among existing 

 Mammals, although it was com- 

 mon amongst extinct forms. In 

 this respect, therefore, the 

 gymnura betrays the antiquity 

 of the group to which it belongs. 

 Raffles's gymnura (Gymnura 

 rafflesi) so named after Sir 



Stamford Raffles is an animal somewhat resembling a large rat with a long 

 pointed nose ; the length of the head and body varying from 12 to 14 inches, and 

 that of the long rat-like tail from 8J to 9J inches. The head and body are 

 generally parti-coloured, with considerable individual variation in the distribution 

 of the black and white. Usually, however, the greater part of the head and neck 

 is white ; but there is a black patch in front of and another above each of the eyes, 

 and there are frequently some long black hairs on the crown of the head. The 

 terminal third of the tail is generally white. Occasionally specimens are found in 

 Burma of a uniform white colour throughout ; these, however, must not be regarded 

 as albinos. The hair is of two kinds a close, soft under-fur and long coarse bristles. 

 Raffles's gymnura is found in the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, 

 in the Malay Peninsula, and in Burma. It is either a rare animal, or 

 on account of its retiring and strictly nocturnal mode of life is but seldom met 

 with. Of its habits we are still ignorant. It is, however, said to make its home 

 beneath the roots of trees ; and, from the contents of the stomachs of specimens 

 that have been examined, we learn that its food consists of different kinds of 

 insects; cockroaches, white ants, and larvae being apparently its favourites. It 

 is distinguished by a peculiarly disagreeable smell of a somewhat oniony or 

 garlic-like nature. 



Still more rare is the lesser gymnura (6r. suilla), a small rusty-brown coloured 

 animal, paler beneath, measuring just short of 5 inches in length, with a tail not 

 exceeding an inch. It occurs in Burma, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, 

 and Java, ascending in Borneo to a considerable elevation above the sea-level on 

 Mount Kina Balu in the northern part of the island. 



Distribution. 



