ERINACEUS. 



213 



ill British India and its dependencies. One of these genera (Erhia- 

 ceus), containing the hedgehogs, is of wide distribution thi'oughout 

 the Pala-arctic and Ethiopian regions ; but in the Oriental region it 

 is unknown east of the Bay of Bengal, althougii distributed over 

 a considerable portion of India proper. The other genus, "6r'//;)i- 

 ma-a, is peculiar to the south-eastern part of the Oriental region. 

 All the forms are nocturnal. 



The two subfamilies are thus disthiguished : — 



Back and sides covered with spines ; tail very short. Erinaceince. 

 Pur without spines ; tail well developed Gymnurince. 



Full details of the anatomy of both subfamilies will be found in 

 Dobson's monograph. 



Subfamily ERINACEINCE. 



Genus ERINACEUS, Linn. (170G). 



Back and sides covex'ed with spines ; tail very short, without 

 spines ; caudal vertebrae rudimentary. 8kull short and broad ; 

 palate-bones with two large non-ossified spaces posteriorly, in 

 front of a transverse ridge which is just behind the last molars ; 

 pterygoid fossae very broad ; no alisphenoid canal ; mesopterjgoid 

 fossa very deep, and leading posteriorly into a deep hemispherical 

 excavati(jn between the auditory bulla;. Pelvis wide, with the 

 ischial tuberosities not prolonged backwards. 



Fig. 56. — Upper jaw of Erinacais coUaris. (Dobson, 1'. Z. S. 1881, p. 403, fig. 11.) 



Dentition : 



• 6 1 — 1 3—3 



1. -, e. ^^, pm. — , 



^. The middle pair of 

 upper incisors are considerably larger than the others, and are 

 widely separated from each other; the third incisor and the canine 

 are very similar to each other, and (except in E. turojia^ts) two- 

 rooted. The first premolar is also (with the same exception) two- 

 rooted, the second is very variable, the third is much larger and 

 three-rooted. The first molar is the largest tooth in the upper 

 jaw, the second is of smaller size, the third very small. 



The median Iom er incisors are large and conical, and directed 



