MammaVia. 29 



coarse, but without the extremely long piles so characteristic of 

 M. macleari., the longest hairs being about 40 or 45 mm. in length. 

 Hands and feet very thick and heavy; the claws, especially on 

 the fore feet, enormously broad and strong, not compressed, more^ 

 than twice the size of those of 2f. macleari, and evidently modified 

 for burrowing. Palms and soles naked, smooth ; the pads broad, 

 low, and rounded, xmusiuilly little prominent ; last hind foot pad 

 elongate. Tail shorter than the body without the head, very 

 thick, evenly tapering, nearly or quite naked ; its scales tiiangular, 

 very large, the rings aAeraging about seven or eight to the 

 centimetre ; ' its colour \iniform blackish bi'own throughout, above 

 and below, the white skin, huwi'ver, showing to a certain extent 

 between the scales. 



"Skull- disproportioually small, light, and delicate; compared 

 with that of J/, macleari it is slightly shorter and very considerablv 

 narrower. Supraorbital edges evenly divergent, slightly beaded, 

 but without any marked postorbital tliickeniug. Outer plate of 

 anterior zygoma-root short and weak, scarcely projected forwards. 

 Anterior palatine foramina long, reaching backwards just to the 

 level of the front of m.., Bulhe rather larger than in M. macleari, 

 but far smaller than in M. evfretti. Lower jaw very thin and 

 slender, contrasting very markedly with J/", macleari in this respect. 



"Teeth- small and weak, their structure as usual. Front of 

 incisors orange above, yellow below. 



"This fine rat cannot possibly be confounded with anj- other 

 known species of the genus.^ Its size, peculiarh* small and deli- 

 cate head, short unicolor tail, large hands and feet, and powerful 

 digging claws, separate it at once from any of its congeners. In 

 some respects it agrees with the description given long ago by 

 Hermann of his Musjai-anus,* but its brown under-side and naked 

 tail prove that it is not really the same, and it is probable that 

 Hermann's description was merely founded on an unusually large 

 specimen of Jlns decumanm. 



" The presence of a second large rat in such a small island as 

 Christmas Island is a very noteworthy fact, and recalls the state 

 of things existing in Guadalcanar, Solomon Islands, where two 

 still larger rats, Mm imperator and IT. rex, one terrestrial and 

 fossorial and the other arboreal, live side by side in the same 

 localitv." ' 



1 Ten to twelve in M. macleari. 



* For tisures of the .sknll and teeth see Plate II {his), fit^s. 2, 4, 5, 9, 10. 



■' Mas iiifralatrit.s, a species from Mount Kina Balu, North Borneo, described 

 by Mr. Thomas (Ann. and Mag. N. H. (6), ii, p. 409) since the above was 

 written, lias a considerable superficial resemblance to Jf. itatin'tatis. Its tail, 

 however, is longer, and its skull is large and heavy, in due proportion to the size 

 of the body. 



* Obs. Zool., p. 63 (1804). 



* See supra, pp. 479-481. 



