OF THE BEAVER AND OF SOME SQUIRRELS. 1203 



observations ; but from the size and length of the outer, lobe of 

 the plantar pad I suspect the outer metatarsal pad, referred to 

 by Blanford as the supplementary pad, is retained and fused with 

 it. According to Blanford the feet of P. yunnanensis are like 

 those of alMventer but larger, whereas in P. j^hilippensis (orcd) 

 there is a large piriform inner and a small outer metatarsal pad, 

 and P. caniceps seems to resemble philippensis so far as the inner 

 pad is concerned, although Blanford makes no mention of the 

 presence of an outer pad. 



In Eoglaihcomys firnbi^iatus the fore foot does not differ 

 materially from that of Petaurista alMventer except that there is 

 a distinct pollical excrescence with a nail, as in the typical 

 Sciuridas, and the plantar and carpal pads carry coarser ridges 

 not distributed all over them but limited to the highest portion 

 of the pads. In some cases there is a little isolated tubercle on 

 the outer side of the external lobe; in other cases this is confluent 

 with the lobe, increasing its width. The hind foot is also tolerably 

 similar to that of P. alhiventer ; the sculpturing of the pads, 

 however, differs as in the fore foot and the inner metatarsal pad, 

 about twice as long as wide, is set at the proximal end of the 

 naked metatarsal area remote from the hallucal lobe of the 

 plantar pad. In this species also, as noticed by Blanford, there 

 is a small circular outer metatarsal pad behind and close to the 

 outer lobe of the plantar pad. If this were enlarged and con- 

 fluent with the plantar pad, the outer lobe of the latter would 

 i-esemble tolerably closely that of Petaurista alMventer. (Text- 

 fig. 55,C, D.) 



None of the other Indian species assigned by Blanford to 

 Sciuropterus * retains the outer metatarsal pad. S. (Hylopetes) 

 alhoniger has the inner metatarsal pad oval ; in S. (Petinomi/s) 

 fuscocapillus it is very elongate ; in Belomys pearsonii it is 

 oval. 



In the North American species, Glaucomys volans, the fore foot 

 structurally resembles tolerably closely that of the Himalayan 

 Eoglaucomys fimhriatus . In a spirit specimen of unrecorded date 

 the underside of the digits and of the entire sole of the foot is 

 naked, whereas in a specimen of G. stramineus, which died in 

 December, these surfaces are covered with hair, the pads, which 

 appear to be smaller, alone being naked. The hind foot, how- 

 ever, diflfers in two correlated characters from that oi Eoglaucomys 

 Jimbriatus: there is no trace of metatarsal pads, and the metatarsal 

 area is covered thickly with hair from the heel almost to the 

 plantar pad. In the example of G. volans, with the naked sole 

 to the fore foot, the undersides of the digits of the hind foot and 

 the area round the plantar pad are likewise naked, whereas in 

 the specimen of G. strainineiLS, with hairy soled fore foot, the 

 lower sides of the digits and the area round the plantar pad are 



* For the generic and subgeneric names here used for these species, see Thomas, 

 Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (8) i. pp. 1-8, 1908. 



