MAMMALS OF MESOPOTAMIA. 329 



This larger form may well have been imported by shipping, as suggested 

 by Kinnear. The fact that so far all specimens have been obtained on 

 the Shatt-al-Arab, in the area of ports of call of the Indian cargo boats, 

 should not be lost sight of. 



It has not been possible to carry the identification further the whole 

 group of these shrews or musk rats, being at present in a state of 

 profound confusion. 



Pachyura is an oriental genus — but there is one species — a dwarf found in 

 Europe and a few species in East Africa. They have four premolars — one 

 of which is minute. This small tooth is missing entirely in Crocidura. 



Crocidura is an African genus with one or two species in Europe acd a 

 few in Asia. 



10. Pachyura etrusca, Savi. 



1822. Sorex etrusca, Savi Nuovo Giorm de Lett Pisa i, p. 60. 



Pigmy Shrew. 



1 9 Trenches near Kut. Magrath, 30-8-16. 



1 Busra Cox-Cheesman. 



1 Busra Eraser, no date. 



1 S Amara Buxton, 5-8-18. 



In the present state of our knowledge of these little known animals there 

 seems to be no alternative but to accept provisionally Savi's name etrusca. 



Kinnear suggests it may prove to be Sorex pusillus, whose length he gives 

 as 2. 4 inches. Gmelin's original description gives the length as 3. 6 

 inches (German) which is double the size of our largest specimen. 



It may be as well to note that our pigmy shrew bears a strong resem- 

 blance to some specimens that have recently been sent in from Palestine 

 by Shortridge. 



The known range of P. etrusca is Spain eastwards to Aden and is now 

 extended to the present locality. 



11. Bemiechinxjs auritus. Pall. 



1778. Erinaceus auritus, Pallas. Nov. Comm. Acad. Petrop X[V, p. 593. 

 Long-eared Hedge-hog. Arabic " gunfudh." 



4 6" 2$ Amara. Buxton, 19-10-17, etc. 



2 S Busra. Shortridge, 25-3-16 and 27-3-16. 

 I $ Busra. Wall, 17-8-16. 



1 2 Busra. Wall, 23-1-17 M. 8 in al. 



1 Busra. Cox-Cheesman, 19-6-16. 



a foot. Culbertson, 22-1-17. 



1$ Amara. Connor, 9-10-16. 



1<S Busra. Short, 6-5-18. 



1 9 Busra. Christy, June 1918— Pregnant, ni al. 



Thii; is the common hedge-hog of the lower Tigris ; specimens are still 

 requiied from Baghdad and abov-e, also from the Euphrates. ^^ 



Bus ton says, "very common in Amara, hybernates 3 months. He 

 obtained 1 young in July. The writer found it plentiful in Sheikh Saad. 

 This hedge-hog might be described as having hair of whitish brown, almost 

 white in places, with light coloured quills and long ears, the feet and 

 forehead are sandy brown. , 



The genus Erinaceus has now been restricted to the European hedge- 

 hog. The genera Hemiechinus and Paraechinus being accepted for the more 

 Eastern forms. The difference in the two lines in the front line of quiJls. 

 In Hemiechinus the quills and hair meet in a clear cut line across the 

 18 



