683 



A NEW S0RICI3LUS FKOM THE MISHMI HILLS. 

 BY Oldfield Thomas. 

 (FuJilislied by ]perm%ssion of the Trustees of the British Museum.') 



I owe to the kindness of Mr. Kinnear the opportunity of ex- 

 amining two small mammals, a sqnirrel and a shrew, obtained by 

 Capt. F. M. Bailey in the Mishmi Hills, and sent by him to the 

 Bombay Natural History Society. The squirrel is referable to 

 Bremomys lohriah, Hodgs., but the shrew appears to be new, and 

 may be called 



SORICULUS BAILEYI, sp. n. 



Allied to S. ccmdcdtis, Horsf., and sacratus, Thos., but markedly 

 larger than either. 



Size approaching that of S. nigrescens, but proportions as in 

 caudatus. Fur long, rich and fine, hairs of back about 7 mm. in 

 length. Colour dark slaty-grey washed with blackish, much as in 

 sacratus, blacker than in caudatus. Undersurface drabby brown — 

 near "hair-brown" of Ridgwaj^ Feet brown, the digits white. 

 Tail slightly longer than head and body, black above and laterally, 

 whitish along a narrow line below, the tip slightly tufted. 



Skiill of type imperfect, the tooth-rows alone preserved. Upper 

 tooth row much longer than in the allied species, but falling short 

 of that of 6'. nigrescens. Unicuspids proportionally large, more 

 extended longitudinally and less transversely than usual ; owing 

 to this, although the upper tooth row is as a whole shorter than in 

 -S'. nigrescens, the combined length of the unicuspids is distinctly 

 greater ; three main unicuspids subequal in horizontal area, evenly 

 decreasing backwards in lateral view ; all of them large in propor- 

 tion to the general size of the animal, especially the anterior one, 

 which is larger than in any other member of the genus. 



Dimensions of type, measured by the collector in the flesh : — 



Head and body 70 mm. ; tail 76 ; hindfoot 16-4. 



Skull, upper tooth row from front of i^ to back of m^ 9-6 ; front 

 of i^ to front of p^ 4* 3 ; combined length of three large unicuspids 

 2*7 ; height of first unicuspid 1'2 ; combined length of p^, m^ and 

 m^ 5. Lower jaw, back of condyle to tip of i^ 14-1. 



Hab.— Mishmi Hills. Type from the Tsu Eiver. Alt. 7,500'. 



Ty2ye. — Adiilt, sex unknown. B.M.No. 14.1. LI. collected loth 

 March 1913 by Captain F. M. Bailey. Presented by him to 

 the British Museum through the Bombay Natural History Society. 



This well marked species belongs to the group in which the tail 

 is about equal to or slightly longer than the head and body. 

 From the two other species of the group, 8. caudatus and sacratus, 

 it differs by its larger size, and, as from every other species of the 

 genus, by its large anterior unicuspid. 



