132 



THE MAMMALS OF ETHIOPIAN AFRICA 



Namaqualand, but is not restricted to sandy tracts. The burrow of this species is 

 furnished with a central chamber in which the owner accumulates a store of bulbs 

 and tubers or other food. This creature is only about half the size of the sand- 

 mole, from which it is distinguished by the smooth, instead of grooved, front 

 surfaces of the upper incisor teeth, and the very much weaker claws. A second 

 species of the same genus, G. damarensis, inhabits Damaraland and Angola, a third, 

 G. darling I, occurs in Mashonaland, a fourth, G. nimrodi, in the neighbourhood of 

 Buluwayo, while a fifth, G. hottentotus, is the mole-rat of the eastern side of Cape 

 Colony and Natal. 



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SAND-MOLE. 



The most remarkable members of the family Bathyergidce are, however, the 

 curious little naked sand-rats of north-eastern Africa, of which Heterocephalus 

 glaber inhabits central Abyssinia, while H. philippsi is a native of the deserts of 

 the interior of Somaliland. These remarkable rodents, which are not much larger 

 than ordinary mice, have almost naked skins, and are further characterised by the 

 small head, minute eyes, the absence of external ears, the moderately long tail, 

 and the powerful fore-feet, each provided with a pair of fleshy pads. Of cheek-teeth 

 there may be either two or three pairs in each jaw. These sand-rats appear to be 

 degraded types allied to Georychus, and specially adapted for a subterranean life 

 in the sands of the desert, One species inhabits British East Africa. 



