THE GOLDEN MOLE 



5IS 



tion to a digging life is brought about ia quite a different way 

 from that of the true. ]\Ioles {Talpa). In the latter the fore- 

 limbs are changed in position by the elongation of the manubrium 

 sterni, carrying with it the clavicles, which are extraordinarily 

 shortened (Fig. !^51). In Chrysochloris, on the other hand, the 

 same need {i.e. that the limbs project as little as possible from the 

 sides of the body, while the length of the limbs is retained, and the 

 leverage of the muscles unaffected) is provided for by a hollowing 



Fig. 249. — Golden Mole. Chrysochloris trevdyani. A, Lower surface of fore-foot, 

 x^. (After Gunther.) 



out of the walls of the thorax, the ribs and the sternum being 

 here convex inwards. The sternum and the clavicles are not 

 modified. The tibia and fibula are ankylosed below. In the 

 manus, moreover, there are but four digits, of which the two 

 middle ones are greatly enlarged. In the Moles there are five 

 lingers, and all are enlarged ; there is, too, a great radial sesamoid 

 bone, which is as good as a sixth finger (which, indeed, it is con- 

 sidered to be, in common with similar structures in other animals, 

 by some anatomists). The foot has only four toes. 



Fam. 7. Macroscelidae.' — This family contains three genera, 

 all of them African in range, and mainly Ethiopian. 



Macroscelides, the Elephant Shrews, are jumping creatures of 

 Shrew-like appearance, combined with a IVIarsupial look. Both 

 radius and ulna, and tibia and fibula, are ankylosed. There 



1 See Peters, Eeise nach Mosamlique, 1852, for external characters and anatomy. 



