MUSCARDINID.E 



349 



therefore probably originated in the Old World, where they 

 are of ancient standing, having existed before the separation 

 of China and Japan, and of Europe and Africa, at least as far 

 back as the upper Oligocene, as well as during the Miocene 

 and Pliocene of Europe ; a well-known form, named Leithia 

 melitensis by Leith Adams, is found frequently in the Pleistocene 

 of Malta. 



Dormice are inhabitants of shrubs or trees. They have 

 long, hairy, often bushy tails ; large, prominent eyes ; well- 

 developed but not long ears ; short fore limbs ; and prehensile 

 hands and feet. The clavicles, tibiae, and fibulae are as in the 

 MuridcB. 



Besides the common Muscardinus of Britain, there are in 

 Europe three other genera, all differing from Muscardinus in 

 having simple stomachs. Of these, Glis includes the Fat 

 Dormouse, known to the Germans as Der Siebenschldfer, and 

 to the French as Le Loire ; when full-fed in autumn, it was 

 considered a great delicacy by the ancient Romans. There are 

 several other forms ; all grey squirrel-like animals, about as big 

 as rats, with bushy distichous tails ; their large molars have flat 

 crowns with complex enamel folds. They are found from the 

 Atlantic coasts of central and southern Europe to Asia Minor, 

 and from North Germany and Russia to Sicily, Sardinia, 

 and northern Spain. Eliomys includes the Garden Dormouse, 

 Der Gartenschldfer of the Germans, Le LSrot of the French, 

 which, with other species, range from Belgium to Asia Minor, 

 and from northern Germany to northern Africa, including the 

 Balearics, Sardinia, and Sicily ; they resemble Glis, but have the 

 head conspicuously marked with black and white ; tufted, black- 

 banded, distichous tails ; and small molars with concave crowns 

 and indistinct enamel folds. Dyromys (instituted by Thomas, 

 Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Nov. 1907, 406, for Muscardinus 

 nitedula of Pallas, \'j']Z = Myoxus dryas of Schreber, 1782) 

 presents characters intermediate between those of Glis and 

 Eliomys. It comprises forms distributed from Switzerland, 

 eastern Hungary, and Greece, through Asia Minor to 

 central Asia. 



Although naturally vegetable feeders, many dormice have 

 insectivorous propensities, and will eat birds or eggs ; in 

 VOL. II. z 2 



