997 



NOTES ON SOME EATS OF THE MUS MET TAD A 



GROUP. 



By 



R. C. Weoughton. 



Mr. Comber has kindly sent to me for examination two series of 

 specimens : the one, collected by himself at Nasik, containing eight 

 individuals, the other, by Major Liston, I.M.S., in the Konkan, contain- 

 ing five individuals. 



All these specimens have only 5 plantar pads, and a mammary 

 formula 2 — 2 = 8, characters that hitherto have been accepted as distin- 

 guishing Mus mettada from its congeners. 



An examination of the dentition shows that four of the Nasik speci- 

 mens, Nos. 133, 135, 136, 138, have distinctly stouter teeth than any 

 of the rest. The remaining four Nasik specimens, Nos. 134, 137, 139, 

 140, while having smaller teeth, like the Konkan individuals, are dis- 

 tinguished from these latter by their smaller size and especially by their 

 shorter hind feet. 



The species mettada (the name meltada as originally published was, 

 undoubtedly, a misprint) was established by Gray (1. c. inf.) on speci- 

 mens collected by Elliot in the Southern Mahratta Country. The 

 description is meagre and not very helpful, but fortunately the speci- 

 mens are still in the British Museum Collection, and from these it 

 appears that the form with the stouter teeth mentioned above is nearest 

 to typical mettada, and the other two forms require names. 



Key. 



A. — Teeth stouter (length of upper molar row = 



6 — 6'2 mm.), hind foot 24 — 25 mm (1) Mus mettada. 



B. — Teeth weaker (length of upper molar row 

 = 5*5 — 5'7 mm.). — 



(a) Hind foot 24 — 25 mm (2) Mus listoni. 



(b) Hind foot 21*5—23 mm (3) Mus comberi. 



1. Mus mettada^ Gray. 



1837. Goluvda mettada, Gray. Mag. Nat. Hist., 1, p. 586. 

 1839. Mus lanuginosus, Elliot. Madr. Journ., X, p. 212. 

 Basing on some dimensions given by Elliot in his paper and on the 



