THE TAILLESS SHREW . 
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Baird refers it to the genus Sorex. The teeth are the same in number as in Crossopus , and likewise 
have their tips reddish-brown. This species inhabits the northern parts of North America up to the 
Hudson’s Bay Territory 
THE TIBETAN WATER SHREW.* 
Tins is another of the Mammals for the knowledge of which we are indebted to the Abbe David, 
and it is one of the most curious species of this family, presenting a combination of characters peculiar 
to itself with those of the True Shrews and the Desmans. “ Its head and skull,” says M. A. Milne- 
Edwards, “refer this animal to the Soricidm, whilst its palmated feet and compressed tail indicate close 
affinities with the Myogalidm ; but the sucking discs with which the lower surfaces of its feet are 
furnished belong to itself alone, and nothing of the same kind is to be found in the allied groups.” 
In some respects the Tibetan species is allied to the European Water Shrew, but it has only 
twenty-eight instead of thirty teeth, namely, incisors, W, canines, molars, ; the skull is 
flattened ; the body robust, and supported on short limbs ; the muzzle short, broad, and conical, with 
large whiskers at the sides, and the nostrils opening laterally near the extremity ; the eyes exceedingly 
small ; and the ears entirely concealed by the hair and quite destitute of a conch. The tail is stout, 
longer than the body, quadrangular at the base, then triangular, and Anally flattened at the sides ; and 
the feet are large and broadly palmated, so as to form vigorous swimming organs, very closely 
resembling those of the Desmans. As in the latter animals, the feet are fringed with stiff hairs of 
peculiar construction ; but the nails, which in the Desmans are strong, are here small and weak. The 
sucking discs, already mentioned as peculiar to this animal, are certainly among its most remarkable 
characteristics. They occur upon the feet of both pairs, and consist of large pads, depressed in the 
middle to form cups, which are doubtless of service to the animal in its aquatic mode of life. 
The Tibetan Water Shrew is rather a large species, measuring, when adult, nearly eight inches in 
total length, more than half of which, however, is occupied by the tail. It is thus much larger than 
our British Water Shrew. Its body is covered with hair of two kinds. Close to the skin is a very 
thick soft down of a slaty grey colour, through which pass numerous longer hairs, which are grey at the 
base and white at the extremity, causing the animal to vary considerably in appearance, according as 
these longer hairs are raised or laid flat. The lower parts of the body are white. 
In its compressed tail and largely webbed feet this Shrew possesses most admirable instruments 
for progression in the water ; in fact, it must be regarded as the most thoroughly aquatic of all the 
family of the Shrews. According to its discoverer, it lives habitually on the banks of the impetuous 
torrents which descend from the mountains of Motipin in Tibet ; and notwithstanding the rapidity of 
these streams, it swims and dives in them with the greatest facility, chasing the small fishes which 
constitute its principal food. Although not uncommon in its native region, its activity in the water 
renders its capture exceedingly difficult. In order to procure specimens, it is necessary to divert the 
course of a stream, and then pursue the animals into the holes in which they take refuge. 
THE TAILLESS SHREW.f 
Another curious little Mammal, brought from Tibet by the Abbe David, is described by M. A. 
Milne-Edwards as forming a distinct genus, under the name of Anurosorex, or the Tailless Shrew. It 
has only twenty-six teeth in all, namely, incisors, f~, canines, b=j, and molars, Ld. The tail is remark- 
ably short, scarcely passing beyond the hairs of the body, slender, slightly flattened, of the same 
thickness throughout, and covered with small scales, from between which project a few very short 
hairs. The general form of the body is mole-like, the head is large, the muzzle conical, flesh-coloured, 
having the nostrils on each side near its extremity, and furnished with long whiskers. The eyes are 
scarcely perceptible, and the ears are entirely concealed beneath the hairs. The feet are short and 
scaly , whence the name given to the species, and the fore-feet are broader and stronger than the hind- 
feet, thus furnishing an additional indication of affinity to the Moles. 
This species was found abundantly both in the plains and mountains of Setchouan and Tibet, 
49 
* JVectogale elegans. 
f Anurosorex squamipes. 
