96 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



zoologists to separate them from the Squirrels as a distinct family. Thus, the post-orbital processes 

 are wanting, or nearly so ; the infra-orbital openings are large ; the molar teeth are four in number on 



each side, above and below, 

 nearly equal in size, and not 

 tubercular, but with a flal 

 surface, crossed by trans- 

 verse loops of enamel ; and 

 the palate is contracted in 

 front and deeply notched 

 behind. In the skeleton 

 we find sixteen pairs of ribs, 

 whereas in the Squirrels 

 there are only twelve or 

 thirteen pairs ; and the 

 internal anatomy, first de- 

 scribed by Mr. Alston, is 

 very peculiar. The fly- 

 ing membrane is quite as 

 largely developed as in 

 the Flying Squirrels, and 

 is in the same manner ex- 

 tended from the wrists to 

 the heels, and further sup- 

 ported by cartilaginous 

 spurs starting from the 



fore limbs ; but, whilst in the Flying Squirrels this spur springs from the wrist itself, in the 

 Anomalures it projects from the elbow, and thus produces a still greater extension of the mem- 

 brane. The ears are well developed, the eyes large, 

 and the general aspect both of head and body com- 

 pletely squirrel-like. Six species of this family have 

 been described, all from the West Coast of Africa. One 

 of them occurs in the island of Fernando Po. The 

 species figured (Anomalurus fulgens) is from the Gaboon. 

 It is a handsome little creature, of a bright reddish colour, 

 paler below, and having a small white spot between the 

 ears. Its length is fourteen inches, and its tail is seven 

 inches long. In some of the other species the tail is as 

 long as the body. Of the habits of these animals little 

 is positively known, but they are said to feed upon fruits. 

 They probably resemble the Flying Squirrels in their 

 general mode of life. 



FULGENT AXOMALURE (From the Proceedings of the Zoological Society). 



MOLAR TEETH OF THE ANOMALURE. 



FAMILY III. HAPLODONTIDJE. 



This is another small family, smaller even than 

 the preceding one, for it includes only a single known 

 species, limited in its range to the western coast of North America. This is the Sewellel, a 

 little Rodent, first observed by the American travellers, Lewis and Clarke, in 1805 or 1806, described 

 in 1814 by Rafinesque under the name of Anisonyx nifa, and afterwards, in 1829, by Sir John 

 Richardson, as the type of a new genus, as Aplodontia leporinn. This generic name has been corrected, 

 in accordance with its derivation, by more recent writers, to Haplodon, from which the name of the 

 family has been formed. 



In this animal there are five molars in the upper and four in the lower jaw ; the first upper molar 



