396 ME, OLDFIELD THOMAS ON MAMMALS 



of Mus allied to the group of M. ephippium, of which specimens are often found with 

 more or less spinous fur. Mr. Whitehead, however, from the character of the place 

 where he took it, thought it would prove to be a peculiar form, and his opinion has 

 been most fully confirmed by an examination of its skull. 



The following are Mr. Whitehead's notes on its capture : — 



" In one of my wanderings through the parched-up forests of Isabella (in North- 

 Central Luzon) I noticed a small red kingfisher (Ceyx melanura) fly into the scrub near 

 a small stream. Having only a large gun with me, I sent my servant back to the 

 village for a small collecting-gun. While seated beside the stream, a small mouse 

 was observed among some large stones on the opposite side, busily searching after 

 food. I opened one of my 16-bore cartridges and picked out all the shot (No. 6) but 

 four or five pellets, and luckily killed the small animal without much damage being- 

 done. Being sure, from its peculiar habits, that it must be something interesting, I 

 carefully skinned it and sent it home, and am now rewarded by the addition of another 

 new generic form to this already interesting collection." 



Rhynchomys Thos. 

 Rhynclwmys Thos. Ann. Mag. N. H. (6) xvi. p. 160 (1895). 



Form rather Shrew-like. Muzzle enormously elongate. Feet normally murine, 

 pollex with a broad nail. Tail Eat-like, scaly, thinly haired. 



Skull (PI. XXXV. fig. 10) of very peculiar shape, the brain-case broad, smooth and 

 rounded, and the muzzle narrow and much elongated. Nasals long and narrow, 

 terminating behind at the same level as the premaxilla? ; viewed in profile they show 

 a curious rise at their anterior extremity, the general frontal profile being practically 

 an even slope from the crown to a point at the end of the anterior third of the nasals, 

 and then bending upward again, as shown in the figure. Interorbital region smooth, 

 evenly rounded, quite unridged. Interparietal large, transversely oblong, unusually 

 variable as to its exact shape. Anteorbital foramen typically murine in essentials, but 

 its outer wall very narrow and much slanted backward, so that the anterior edge of 

 the upper root — the bridge — is actually posterior to the hinder edge of the lower 

 root. In these respects it recalls the S. American Oxymycterus. Zygomata slender, 

 low, and little sloped vertically. Palate long and narrow ; a distinct incisive fissure 

 present ; palatal foramen of normal size, but comparatively far forward in the skull, so 

 that their posterior end is nearly their full length in front of the molars. On each 

 side, just in front of m. 1 , there is a distinct raised ridge about a couple of millimetres 

 long, and there is a somewhat similar ridge behind the last molar in the lower jaw; 

 these ridges are very possibly used to supplement the minute teeth in eating. Posterior 

 bony palate broad and produced far back ; posterior nares rather narrow ; internal 



