GTMNURA. 219 



vSpines white or yellow, wil h a dark broad subterminal band ; 

 tip white. 



Dimensions. Head and body inches, tail 0-5, height of ear 

 from base 1 to 1*1, hind foot witliout claws 1*1, longest spine 0'8. 

 Sknll, total length 1*75 inches, basal length 1*65. 



Distribution. The plains of Southern India, in the neighbourhood 

 of Madras, Trichinopoly, Coiinbatore, &c. Other localities, such 

 as Cottjam, in Travancore, require contirmation, and the repeatedly 

 asserted occurrence of this form on the Nilgiris is shown by 

 Anderson to be incorrect; the animal is, however, found on the 

 eastern slopes towards the base. The northern range of the spe- 

 cies is not known, but if any hedgehog be found in the Bombay 

 Deccan, as stated by Adan)s and apparently confirmed by later 

 observers in the ' Bombay Grazetteer,' it is probably the present 

 species. It is remarkable, however, that none was obtained by 

 Sir W. Elliot in the Southern Mahralta country, and I do not re- 

 member ever seeing a hedgehog myself in the Bombay Deccan or 

 the Central Provinces. If, as Kelaart thinks probable, there is a 

 hedgehog in Ceylon, it is most likely to be E. micropits. 



Nothing especial appears to have been recorded of the habits of 

 this species. 



Other Asiatic species of hedgehog are E. aur'.tus from Southern 

 Siberia, the Caspian region, and Mesopotamia, and E. albulus 

 from Eastei'n Turkestan. 



Subfamily GYMNURIN^. 



Genus GYMNURA, ITorsf. &■ Vigors (1828). 



Svn. Echinosore.r, Blaiuv. (1831) ; Hylowys, Miiller and Schlegel 

 \1839). 



Fur without spines. Caudal vertebra? numerous and \\e\\ deve- 

 loped. Hend long, and nose pointed; cars rounded; feet and 

 claws well developed; tail nearly naked. Skull long; zygomatic 

 arches very slender ; palate-bones completely ossified posteriorly, 

 but with a transverse ridge, as in Erinacens, behind the posterior 

 molars ; mesopterygoid fossa not terminating behind in a deep 

 excavation ; pterygoid fossae broad : an alisphenoid canal present. 

 Pelvis very narrow, with the ischial tuberosities much prolonged 

 backwards. 



Dentition : i. g, c. ~, pm. ^, m. |^. Middle upper incisors 

 much larger than the others, and separated from each other; the 

 next pair are smaller, the outer pair smaller still ; all single-rooted. 

 The canine is slightly larger than the fir.^t (middle) incisor, and 

 two-rooted. The first two upper premolars are very f-mall, the 

 third varies in the tw o species ; the fourth is large, and has four 

 roots. The molars are similar to those of Erinacens. 



