212 CAENIVOEA. 



L. simung {L. monticola). This Otter may be indicated as L. ellioti. One pecu- 

 liarity of the milk dentition of this species is the presence on the hinder margin of 

 the canine, near its base, of a prominent, well-defined cusp, above which the tooth 

 is thickened ; no such cusp exists in the milk-teeth of a young example of L. nair 

 before me, but I have never seen a young skull of the Simung. 



The colour of this Otter is much the same as in the Simung, only a little darker, 

 and the distribution of the silvery white is the same. The more depressed and 

 shallower character of the muzzle must confer a different character on the head of 

 the living animal as compared with L. Simung, and both these species are doubtless 

 distinguished from X. nair by broader and more arched heads and shorter muzzles. 



It may be that this Otter has a north-westerly distribution, and that it is the 

 species which occurs in the lake at Mount Abu, in Rajputana, and also in Sindh and 

 in the Indus. 



The skull in the British Museum (No. 214^, 48, 6, 11, 14) referred by 

 Dr. Gray to the genus Barangia under the name nepalensis is considerably smaller 

 than the previous skulls. The obscure character of the frontal angles of the orbit 

 appears to be due to abrasion, and the skull has aU the characters of a true Lutra. 

 The teeth are much smaller than in L. simung, and the skull is seemingly fully 

 adult, as the sutures have all disappeared. It belongs, then, to a small Otter, and as 

 the skull was forwarded by Hodgson and is quite distinct from the other skulls sent 

 by him, it is possible that it may be the skull of the smallest of his true Lutrce, viz., 

 L. aurohrunnea, which Gray ^ has erroneously referred to the genus Aonyx. The 

 type specimen is in the British Museum, and is a true, long-clawed Otter. There is 

 no evidence whatever that a hirsute-nosed Otter exists in the Himalaya. 



The type of the species L. aurohrunnea is a very badly preserved skin of a 

 rich, ferruginous, brown colour of almost equal intensity above and below and on 

 all parts of the head and neck, the upper surface of the head being deeper brown 

 than the back. The nose is bare, and the ears are small, and rather pointed 

 posteriorly. All the strong bristles of the moustache, eyes, cheeks, and chin are 

 dark brown. The claws are developed, as in true Lutra, and the upper surface of 

 the webs are semi-nude, and on their under surfaces there are a few scattered hairs. 

 Hodgson describes this species as having a more vermiform habit of body than any 

 of the other Asiatic Otters ; the tail is less than two-thirds of the length of the 

 body ; the nails and toes are feebly developed ; the fur is rather long and rough, 

 and the colour rich chestnut-brown above, and golden red below and on the 

 extremities. 



Inches. 



Length from muzzle to root of tail 20 to 22 



of tail 12 to 13 



Nothing is known regarding the distribution of this form beyond that it is 

 a mountain species. 



1 Cat. Carniv. Mamm. etc., B, M. 1869, p. 111. 



