H5 MAMMALIA. GLIRES. Mole- Rats. 



one; it refembles the Sand Hamfter a good deal; the nofe is fharp, with large, broad ears, of a dufky 

 colour, edged with white ; the tail is foiall i.nd pointed, of a white colour, and is marked above with 

 a dufky line; the feet have four toes, and a knob furnifhed with a claw inftead of the thumb or fifth 

 toe. It lives chiefly on the feeds of the Aftragalus and Atriplex ; but its manners are unknown. 



**** MOLE-RAT S.—M TOT ALP M\ 



Have no external ears, very fmail eyes, and a very fhort tail, or none. They live entire- 

 ly under ground, like the Moles ** 



5 I(5 i. Ruffian Mole-Rat. — 38. M. My ot alpa t alpha. 38. 



Of a dufky colour : Has a very fhort tail, and no external ears ; the fore-teeth are long, 

 extended from the mouth, and wedge-fhaped ; the feet have five toes ; the fore feet 

 are very ftrong, flat, and formed for digging. Pallas, Glir. 77. n. 9. and p. 176. t; xi. 

 A. and Nov. com. Petrdp. xiv; 568; t. it. f. 3. Schreber, iv. 711. t. cciii. 



Spalax minor, or Lefler Spalax. Erxleb; mam. 379. — Talpine Mole-Rat. Penn. hift. of quad, 

 n- 335- 



S l 7 B. Black Ruffian Mole-Rat. — M. Myotalpa talpina nigra. 



Is entirely black. Pdnn. hift. of quad. p. 475. 



Inhabits the plains of Ruffia and Weftern Siberia, fcarcely extending beyond the Irtifh, and never 

 beyond the Oby. — This animal is fond of a turfy foil, avoiding fandy or muddy places, and digs 

 holes like thofe of the Hamfter, which it lines with foft grafs, and fills with bulbous roots, throwing 

 up hillocks of earth all along the tracks ; each individual has its feparate burrow : It works only in 

 the night, and feldom comes out except in the feafon of love ; feeds chiefly on the roots of Tulips, 

 tuberofe Lathyrus, and tuberofe Phlomis. Its light is very weak in the day time : It is about four 

 inches long, and refembles the Water Rat ; has a large fhort head, with a thick fnout, and trun- 

 cated nofe ; the eyes are very fmall, and hid in the fur ; the aperture of the ears is only bounded by 

 a fmall rim behind; the body is thick and fhort; the tail fcarce appears beyond the fur ; the head, 

 nofe, back, and fides, are dufky, the cheeks greyifh, the chin white, and the belly and limbs whitifh. 

 It procreates about the beginning of April, at which time it fmells ftrongly of mufk; and the females 

 produce three or four young at a litter. 



i 1 ^ 2. Cape Mole- Rat. — 39. M. Myotalpa capenfts. 39. 



Of a dark brown colour tinged yellowifh, with the fore part of the face, orbits, and re- 

 gions of the ears, white : Has a very fhort tail, and no external ears ; the fore-teeth 

 are wedge-like; and all the feet have five toes. Pailas, Glin 76. n. 8. and p. 172. t. vii. 



Schreber, iv. 713. t. cciv. 



Cape 



* The animals of this fubdivifion of the genus are named Mures fubterra/iel, by Dr Gmelin ; but 

 "hs word Myotqlpa is preferred in this edition, as being better adapted for the purpofc of a fubgenus. — T. 



