462 RODENTIA 
lamine. Flattened spines mingled with the hair; tail thickly 
haired. Represented by one genus. 
Platacanthomys..The one representative of this genus is P. 
lasiurus, found in the clefts of rocks and hollow trees in Southern 
India at elevations of about 3000 feet. This elegant little animal 
closely resembles a Dormouse ; the tail and body having a length 
of 6 inches. 
Subfamily Gerbillinze.—Incisors narrow; molars with transverse 
lamine (Fig. 205). Auditory bulle very large in most cases. 
Hind limbs elongated. Tail usually long and hairy. Ranges over 
the Palearctic, Oriental, and Ethiopian regions. 
Gerbillus.2-—Upper incisors grooved; first molar with three 
lamine, second with two, and third with one. 
There are some sixty species, with a range 
coextensive with that of the family. The 
Gerbils, with their large and bright eyes and 
long tufted tails, are very graceful creatures, 
inhabiting sandy plains, where they form ex- 
tensive burrows. Remains of existing species 
are found in cavern-deposits in Madras (Fig. 
Fic. 205.—The left ramus 205). 
of the mandible of Gerbillus ‘ " 3 i 
indicus, with an enlarged Pachyuromys.2—The African genus Pachy- 
view of the molars, froma wromys is distinguished by the very large size 
rei i pe of the auditory bulla, as well as by the short 
Tndica.) and fleshy tail, which is club-shaped. The 
incisors are narrow and faintly grooved. 
Mystromys,* Otomys,® and Dusymys.\—These genera, also from 
South Africa, differ from Gerbillus in the form of the molars, and 
are represented by a few species. 
Malacomys.'—The one known species of this genus is from the 
Gaboon, and is in some respect intermediate between the true 
Gerbils and the Rats. Thus the dentition and feet are those of the 
former, but the long scaly tail resembles that of the latter. 
Subfamily Phleomyins.’—This subfamily is represented only 
by Phicomys® cumingt, of the Philippine Islands, in which the incisors 
are very broad, the molars are divided into transverse lamin, and 
the claws are large. The muzzle is blunt; the ears are hairy 
} Blyth, Proe. ds. Soe. Bengal, vol. xxviii. p. 289 (1859), 
* Desmarest, Nouv. Dict. @ Hist. Nat. vol. xxiv. p. 22 (1804). 
* Lataste, Le Nut. vol. i. p. 314 (1880). 
4 Wagner, Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1841, p. 132. 
5 F. Cuvier, Dents des Manmiferes, p. 168 (1825). 
® Peters, Monatsber. Ak. Berlin, 1875, p. 12. 
" A, Milne-Edwards, Bull. Soc. Philom. ser. 6, vol. xi. p. 9 (1877). 
8 Nesocia was included by Alston in this subfamily. 
® Waterhouse, Proc. Zovl. Soc. 1839, p. 108. 
