TALPA. 



223 



tympanic bulljB ossese, but without postorbital processes of the 

 frontals ; aud with a caecumless intestinal canal. (Bobson.) 



Although some non-Indiau genera constituting the subfamily 

 Mi/o(/(diyue are intermediate in form between moles and shrews, 

 the typical moles, which are the only members of the family 

 hitherto found within Indian limits, are easily distinguished by 

 their thick, cylindrical bodies, short legs, and enormous fore feet, 

 and by their peculiar short, soft, velvety fur, the hairs of which 

 are set vertically in the skin, not directed backwards. 



Skull of Tal2}a europcea. (Dobson, Mon. Ins. pi. xx.) 



The eyes ai'e minute and frequently covered by the skin, the 

 ears short and generally concealed by the fur. 



The true molars have always well-defined W-shaped cusps, with 

 horizontal internal basal processes. The front incisors above and 

 below are unicuspidate, and the lower are not extended horizon- 

 tally forward as in the shrews. 



The mole family is only found in the Palgearctic and Nearctic 

 regions, and in a small portion of the Oriental region. The peculiar 

 section said by Jerdon to occur in Africa consists of the golden 

 moles, Chn/sochloridw, now placed in a distinct family. Nearly 

 all the forms are subterranean in habit and, like njost other Insec- 

 tivora, nocturnal. 



Genus TALPA, Linn. (17G6). 

 Syn. Pa7-ascaptor, Gill, 1875. 



Form typical. Legs and feet, the anterior pair especially, 

 entirely modified for digging, the fore feet, which are normally 

 turned outwards instead of downwards, being very broad and fiat 

 and furnished with large claws ; the humerus, radius, and ulna 

 very short and strong, and the clavicle, in some species, as broad 

 as long. The great breadth of the fore feet is partly due to a 

 peculiar development of the pro.ximal inner wrist-bone, or radial 

 sesamoid, which is a large curved ossicle known as the falciform 

 bone {os falciforme). 



