276 EODENTIA. 



Sciw'us laticaudatus, Miiller und Schlegel, Yerhandl. 1839-44, pp. 100 and 215, figs. 1, 3; Wagner, 

 Schreber, Saugeth. Suppl. vol. iii. 1843, p. 206j Schinz, Syn. Mamm. vol. ii. p. 40, 1845; 

 Cantor, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. xv. 1846, p, 251; ibid. vol. xx. 1851, p. 167. 



Miiller and Schlegel's description of ^S'. laticaudatus would seem to leave no 

 doubt but that the animal described and figured by them under that name is this 

 species which is so remarkable, not so much on account of any character presented 

 by its tail, as by reason of its deep and rather long muzzle, with which there is asso- 

 ciated a correspondingly elongated and narrow skull, unlike the skulls of squirrels 

 generally with their much compressed and rather feeble incisors, while the^ first of 

 its five upper teeth is remarkable on account of its strong development and from 

 the presence of four distinct cusps, the foremost of which is the largest, while in 

 other squirrels there are only one or two small cusps. The skull of Tamias 

 davidanus closely approaches it in its general character, but the muzzle is shorter ; 

 however, these two skulls are more closely related to each other than to the skulls 

 of the other squirrels of Southern Asia. 



Gray's type was purchased from a dealer and was entered in the British Museum 

 Register as coming from Malacca, but Dr. Gray in his Synopsis gives Singapore as 

 the habitat. Blyth received a specimen from the Malayan peninsula. The type 

 of S. laticaudatus was procured by Diard, in 1827, on the west coast of Borneo 

 near Pontinack, where this peculiar squirrel is not uncommon. Miiller and Schlegel 

 met with it in that island, along the banks of the rivers Baritto or Doeson, and in 

 the mountain jungle. 



As remarked by Miiller and Schlegel, its pelage has a strong resemblance to the 

 pelage of S. insignis, having much the same character, except that it has no 

 black bands. The coloration, as in S. insignis, is more murine than in any other 

 Asiatic squirrel, except perhaps T. davidanus, and it is very variable in its 

 intensity, varying from light to dark, almost blackish brown. It is about the 

 size of S. insignis, and the tail is shorter than the body, reaching to about the 

 eye when laid forwards. The tail is moderately bushy, rather contracted at the 

 base, but expanding towards the tip. The hairs are banded rather broadly with 

 four alternate pale-brown and dark-brown bands, the last band being the darkest 

 and broadest, with a pale-brown tip. The ears have the same form as in the 

 squirrels, but the moustache is much more feeble. The under surface is nearly 

 pure white in some, and rich orange-yellow in others. 



The figure of the muzzle, as given by Miiller and Schlegel, appears to have 

 been taken from a stuffed specimen from which the skull had been removed, 

 so that the true character of the muzzle in the living animal is not correctly 

 represented. 



I have examined the types of B. tupaioides and R. laticaudatus, and find that 

 they belong to only one species. 



This species is found in the Malayan peninsula and in Borneo. 



