88 W. T. Blanford— On the Voles (Arvicola) of the [No. 2, 



IX.— On the Voles (Arvicola) of the Himalayas, Tibet, and Afghanistan. 

 —By W. T. Blanfokd, F. K. S., &c. 



[Keceived 6th May 1881 ; Read 1st June 1881.] 

 (With Plates I and II.) 



Within the last few years several species of Arvicola have been de- 

 scribed from the Himalayas and from the country north of the range ; and 

 quite recently two additional forms have been procured from the same 

 region, and two others have been found in the collection of the East-India 

 Museum — one from the Himalayas, the other from Afghanistan. I pro- 

 pose in the present paper to give an account of all the Himalayan, Tibetan, 

 and Afghan Voles hitherto described, so far as I am acquainted with them. 

 I also propose to describe and figure the molar dentition of all available 

 forms. I may add that I have had the advantage of examining the original 

 specimens of all the species described. 



There is much reason to doubt whether any kind of Arvicola has 

 hitherto been described within the limits of the Oriental Region proper*, 

 the forms occurring on the Himalayas being found at an elevation where 

 there is either an intermingling of Oriental and Palaearctic types, or where 

 the latter prevail — the rodents, undoubtedly obtained from the plains of 

 India, that have been referred to the genus Arvicola being really true 

 Murinse, without the peculiar dental organization of the Voles. Such is 

 especially the case with Arvicola bengalensis and A. indica of Gray and 

 Hardwicke's ' Illustrations of Indian Zoology,' both of these forms having 

 been shown to belong to the Murine genus or subgenus JSTesokiaf. 



The earliest description of a Himalayan Arvicola, so far as I am 

 aware, was that of A. roylei, by Dr. GrayJ, 1842. The same animal was 



* In Blyth's ' Catalogue of the Mammalia in the Museum of the Asiatic Society,' 

 Calcutta, a stuffed skin of Arvicola roylei is included, and said to have been obtained 

 from Pind Dadun Khan, in the Punjab. This specimen was presented by Mr. 

 Theobald in 1853, according to the catalogue ; but it is remarkable that no reference 

 is given, and that the species is not mentioned in either of the two lists of specimens 

 from Pind Dadun Khan and other places presented to the Society's Museum hy Mr. 

 Theobald in 1853 (J. A. S. B. 1853, xxii. pp. 410, 580). The specimen could not be 

 found lately, when a search was made for it at my request. I have no hesitation in 

 considering that either the identification or the locality is open to grave question, and 

 in rejecting the evidence as for the present in need of confirmation. 



t Blyth. J. A. S. B. 1863, xxxii. p. 328 ; Anderson, J. A. S. B. 1878, xlvii. pt. 2, 

 pp. 214, 221, 227. 



X For references see synonymy of species. 



