MAMMALIA. .53 

 36. Mrs pachycercus. PL IX, Pig 2 ; PL X b, Pig 4. 



W. Blanf.; J. A. S. B., 1875, xliv, Part 2, p. 108. 



Mus affinisM.. bactriano, sed minor, caudd breviore, crassiusculd, setosd, supra Jttsco- 

 fnlvus, subtus albidus, auriculis ovalibus majusculis pilosis. Long, (exempli in spiritu vini 

 eonservati) a rostro ad basin caudce 2'3, caudce 2, auricula 0'5, plantce 0'65 poll. 



1, Sanju ; 2, 3, Karghalik ; 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Yarkand ; 11, Yangihissar ; 12, no label ; — all skins, except two from 

 Yarkand, which are preserved in spirit. 



Colour above sandy-brown to hair-brown, becoming in some specimens pale and rufes- 

 cent on the sides, under parts white, the colours distinctly separate on the sides. The colour 

 of the upper parts is darker in some skins than in others, and is occasionally slightly greyish 

 (mouse-brown), but usually of a more sandy or yellowish tint like M. bactrianus. Pur 

 moderately soft, rather long, (0*3 to 035 inch, on the middle of the back,) the basal portion 

 blackish slaty ; this is the colour of at least three-fourths of the length on the upper parts ; 

 the terminal portion in general is light brown, from sandy to light hair-brown, many longer 

 hairs with blackish tips being scattered amongst the fur. On the breast the fur is white 

 throughout, and on the abdomen only the extreme base is dark. Upper part of the head the 

 same colour as the back, whiskers mostly black, only the lowest being white, none appear 

 much to exceed the head in length. Ears large, rounded, hairy ; the hairs covering all the 

 posterior portion of the inside are short and brown and rather thinly scattered ; some longer 

 hairs near the anterior margin ; on the outside the hairs are even shorter except towards the 

 base of the ear, where they are longer and pale in colour. Peet pretty thickly clad above 

 with short white hairs ; soles naked. Tail thick, shorter than the body and head, thinly clad 

 with short white bristles throughout; the skin is dark on the upper surface, pale below. 



The skins are about 2f to 3 inches long (head and body) ; tail 2 to 2j. The following 

 dimensions from two specimens in spirit are, of course, somewhat contracted, the ears espe- 

 cially, but still they are far more trustworthy than any taken on dried skins : — 



Inches. Inches. 



Length from nose to anus ....... 2"35 2'3 



Do. of tail 1-9 2 



Do. of ear from orifice ........ 0*48 0'5 



Breadth of ear laid flat 0-39 0-4 



Length of fore-foot (palma) ....... O'o 0'3 



Do. of hind-foot and tarsus ....... 0 - 65 0"65 



A skull measures 0"85 inch in length by 0 v i<7 in breadth ; the nasal bones are 0*32 long. 

 It is a longer skull than that of 31. bactrianus, with much longer nasal bones and longer 

 anterior palatine foramina. The incisors are deep yellow. Length of upper molars 013 

 inch. 



This is apparently a house-mouse, one specimen from Karghalik being labelled " caught 

 in the house," and closely allied to M. bactrianus, 1 the house-mouse of Persia, Afghanistan 

 and North- Western India. It has the same sandy-brown colour in general, but it has a shorter 

 and thicker tail. Another form, shewing some resemblance, is 31. pygmceus 2 from Se-chuan in 

 China, but this is distinguished by having much smaller ears and by not being white below. 



1 Blyth, J. A. S. B., 1S46, xv, p. 140 ; xxxii, p. 347.— W. Blanford, Eastern Persia, ii, p. 56, PL V, fig. 2. 

 - A. Milne-Edwards, Rech. Mam., p. 291, PI. XLIII, fig. 1. 



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