1190 MR. R. I. POCOCK ON THE EXTERNAL CHARACTERS 



In Ueliosoiurus punctatus the feet are relative]}'' larger than 

 in Fionisciibrus leiocostigma, the plantar lobes and carpal pads of 

 the fore foot are smaller, more angular, and separated ; in the 

 hind foot the ]ilantar lobes are also smaller and more spaced, 

 the inner metatarsal is much shorter, being oval and well- 

 defined distally but abbreviated and ill-defined proximally ; the 

 inner metatarsal is like it but smaller*. (Text-fig. 48, A, B.) 



The species belonging to the three African genera above 

 discussed may be distinguished as follows by their feet : — 



a. Inner metatarsal pad very short, lobes of plantar pads and 



carpal pads relatively small and separated S. punctatus. 



a'. Inner metatarsal pad a long, stout ridge ; lobes of plantar pads 

 and carpal pads larger and closer together. 

 a". Outer metatarsal pad elongate, more than half the length of 



the inner P. stangeri. 



&2. Outer metatarsal pad small, oval or spherical JF. leticostigma, cepapi. 



In a general sense the hind feet of Ftmisciurus do not differ 

 in any very important respect from those of Ftmiamhulus ; but 

 all the African species examined differ from all the Oriental 

 species in not having the same elongation of the inner carpal 

 pad. In the length of the outer metatarsal P. sto»^eri approaches 

 Ratufa and Gallosciurus. 



F'miisciurus leiicostignia and cepapi, on the one hand, and Proto- 

 xe.rus stangeri, on the other, were regarded by Forsyth Major as 

 representing respectively two subgenera of Xei^us. By their 

 feet, however, they are typical arboreal Squirrels, differing in 

 no essential particulars, so far as those organs are concerned, 

 from such tropical American species as Scmrus (Fchinosciurus) 

 hypopyrrliihs. 



c. Feet of the European and Avierican Squirrels. 



In the tropical American Squirrels, referred to a large number 

 of subgenera of Sciurus, the soles of the feet are naked as in the 

 tropical Asiatic and African forms, the heel being generally 

 hairy although sometimes naked down the middle line, as in 

 an example of Sciurus saltuensis hondce that died early in October. 

 The lobes of the plantar pads are Avell developed, the two carpal 

 pads are subequal in size, the inner not projecting appreciably 

 beyond the outer as it does in the ti-opical Asiatic forms. The 

 two metatarsal pads are retained, the inner being thick, elongated, 

 and curved, the outer smaller, ovate, and situated in front of the 

 anterior end of the inner. The claws are longer than in the 

 tropical African and Asiatic forms. The feet of S. (Echiyio- 

 sciurus) hypopyrrhus resemble those described above, and their 

 soles are naked in mid-winter. (Text-fig. 49, D.) 



The feet of the Squirrels of the northern parts of America are, 

 generally speaking, similar to those of the warmer latitudes, with 

 this difference, that the soles undergo a seasonal change in the 



* For a tabulation of the genera of African Sciuridis, based mainlv on skulls and 

 teeth, see Thomas's paper (Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (8) iii. pp. 467-475, 1909). 



