11£ TALPINE RAT. 



Dr. Pallas's representation is also added, though 

 less expressive of the remarkable appearance of 

 the teeth. 



TALPINE RAT. 



Mns Talpinus. M. br achy urns fuscus, defttibus primorihus supra 

 infraque cuneatis, auriculis nullis, palmis pentadactylis fossoriis. 

 Lin, Syst. Nat. Gmel.p. 139. Fall. Glir. p. 1716. 



Short-tailed brown Rat, with large cuneated front-teeth, no ex- 

 ternal ears, and pentadactyle fore- feet, formed for bnrrowing. 



Spalax minor. Erxkb. mamm. p. 379. 



Talpine Rat. Pennant Quadr. 7i. p. 219. 



This species is much allied to the Mus Ca- 

 pensis in shape and in its large teeth, but is of 

 a smaller size, measuring scarcely four inches 

 in length. Its colour is subferruginous brown 

 above, paler or more inclining to whitish be- 

 neath ; the tail is very short : the body plump ; 

 the head rather large, and the snout thick : the 

 eyes small, and the foramina of the ears scarcely 

 visible : the legs short ; the feet naked, with five 

 toes on each, furnished with moderately strong 

 claws. This species is common in the temperate 

 parts of Russia, and in some parts of Siberia, bur- 

 rowing in black turfy ground, and especially in 

 places where the Phlomis tuber osa and Lathy rus 

 esculentus grow. In the winter it makes a nest 

 beneath some shrub or hay-rick, at a considerable 

 depth below the ground, lining it with soft grass. 



