458 Mr. O. Thomas on the 



Mus bceodon. 



Size small, about as in M. Whiteheadi. Fur nearly 

 wholly spinous, with less wool-hairs intermixed than in any 

 of the allied species ; the spines of the back about 9 millira. 

 long. General colour rufous brown (browner on the head, 

 more rufous on the rump), finely speckled with yellowish. 

 Each spine is whitish basally, gradually darkening to brown 

 terminally, but with a narrow terminal or subterminal band 

 of yellow. Throat and chest dull rufous ; belly pale buffy 

 yellow, the hairs and spines of this colour throughout ; line 

 of demarcation on sides not sharply defined. Hands and feet 

 white ; fifth hind toe reaching nearly to the end of the first 

 phalanx of the fourth ; soles smooth, with the usual six high 

 and prominent pads. Tail rather shorter than the head and 

 body, practically naked ; bicolor ; scales about twelve to the 

 centimetre. Palate-ridges 3 — 4; mamm^ 2 — 2 = 8. 



Skull with the usual supraorbito-parietal ridges normally 

 developed. Anterior edge of zygomatic plate slanting back- 

 wards ; palatal foramina small, well open, their posterior 

 boundary nearly 2 millim. in front of 2Li, Molars remarkably 

 small and delicate (see measurements) , the total molar length 

 only just equal to the least distance between the first molars 

 of the two sides. 



Dimensions of the type, an adult female in spirit : — 

 Head and body 119 millim, ; tail 111 ; hind foot 26; (ears 

 destroyed) ; heel to front of last foot-pad 11*7. 

 Skull : see p. 459. 



Hah. Mount Kina Balu. Coll. A. H. Everett. 

 Type: B.M. 94.7.2.81. 



This peculiar little species may be readily recognized from 

 all its allies by its diminutive teeth, which are smaller in 

 proportion to the size of the skull than in any other species 

 of Mus known to me. 



An immature skin, also from Kina Balu, agrees with the 

 adult in most respects, but has a larger proportion of wool- 

 hairs mixed with the spines, and the spines of the back are 

 broadly brown-tipped, without yellowish rings. 



Mus haluensis. 



Size about as in M. negJectus. Fur quite spineless, long 

 and soft, the dorsal wool-hairs about 17 millim. in length, 

 and the longer bristle-hairs, which are numerous, attaining 

 about 30 or 35 millim. General colour coarsely grizzled 

 orange and black, the resulting tone not unlike Ridgway's 

 " raw umber." Whole of under surface, including the chin, 



