394 



MUEID^. 



Subfamily PLATACANTHOMYIN^E. 



Molars rooted, subeqiml in size, crossed b_y subparallel folds of 

 euamel directed obliquely in\\ards and baclcwards. Anterior 

 palatine foramina small, not extending back beyond the hinder 

 margin of the premaxillaries. Auditory bullce small. Coronoid 

 process of mandible short. Tail long, hairy. 



Oenus PLATACANTHOMYS, Blyth (1S59). 



I'orm resembling that of a dormouse. 

 Tail clad with long coarse straight hairs, 

 arranged distichously towards the tip. 

 Pollex and hallux short, clawless (the 

 latter may sometimes bear a nail). Skull 

 broad, flattened above behind ; a well- 

 marked supraorbital ridge on each side. 

 Infraorbital foramen very large. Bony 

 palate broad, imperfect, perforate. In- 

 cisors smooth, narrow. 



A single known species peculiar to the 

 hills near the Malabar coast. 



Fig. 125. — Crowns of («) 

 upper and {h) lower 

 right molars of P. 

 lasiurus, X 4. 



263. Platacanthomys lasiurus. The Malabar spiny House. 



Platacanthomys lasim-us, Bli/tk, J. A. S. B. xxviii, p. 288 (18o9) ; 

 id. Cat. p. 109 ; Peten^, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 398, pi. xx ; Jerdon, Mam. 

 Ind. p. 210. 



Ears large, pointed, posterior margin slightly concave below the 

 tip. Vibrissce numerous, several of them more than twice the 

 length of the head. Eur of the upper parts mixed with broad flat 

 spines having thickened edges. Tail hairy throughout, the hair 

 coarse but not spiny, and subdistichons, short near the body and 

 gradually increasing in length towards the tip of the tail. Five 

 pads on each palma, and 7 or 8 on the planta, including one long 

 inner metatarsal pad and t\\o or three outer, behind each other, 

 all but the first small. Claws overhung by hair. Mamma) one pair 

 pectoral and one inguinal (Blyth gives 2 pairs abdominal). 



Colour above reddish bro\\n, below nearl}^ white, the colours not 

 passing into each other ; dorsal fur white at the base and for three 

 quarters of its length or more, tips above brown. Feet white or 

 whitish. Tail coloured like the back above and below, the extremity 

 sometimes whitish. 



