MAMMALIA. 
53 
36. Mus pachycercus. PI. IX, Pig 2; PI. Xb, Pig 4. 
W. Blanf., J. A. S. B., 1875, xliv, Part 2, p. 108. 
Mus affinis M. bactriano, sed minor, cauda breviore, crassiuscula, setosd, supra fusco- 
fnhms, suMus albidus , anriculis ovalibus majuseulis pilosis . Long, (exempli in spiritu mni 
conservati ) a rostro ad basin caadee 2'S, caudce 2, aurieulcB 0'5, planter 0'65 poll. 
1 , Sanju; 2, 8, KargTaalik; 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Yarkand ; 11, Yangihissar ; 12, no label 
Yarkand, which are preserved in spirit. 
-all skins, except two xrom 
Colour above sandy-brown to bair-brown, becoming in some specimens pale and rates- 
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. baetrianus. Pur 
moderately soft, rather long, (O'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 hack, 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 helow. 
The skins are about 2f to 3 inches long (head and body); tail 2 to 2^. 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 :— 
Length from nose to anus 
Do. of tail 
Do. of ear from orifice . 
Breadth of ear laid flat 
Length of fore-foot (palma) 
Do. of hind-foot and tarsus 
Inches. 
Inches. 
2-35 
2-3 
1-9 
2 
0-48 
0-5 
0-39 
0-4 
0-3 
0-3 
0-65 
0-65 
A skull measures O'85 inch in length by 0'47 in breadth ; the nasal hones are 032 long. 
It is a longer skull than that of M. baetrianus, with much longer nasal bones and longer 
anterior palatine foramina. The incisors are deep yellow. Length of upper molars 0T3 
inch. 
This is apparently a house-mouse, one specimen from Karghalik being labelled “ caught 
in the house, 5 ’ and closely allied to M. baetrianus , l 2 the house-mouse of Persia, Afghanistan 
and Xorth-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 1V1. pygmeeus z from Se-chuanin 
China, hut this is distinguished hy having much smaller ears and by not being white helow. 
1 Blyth, J. A. S. B., 1846, xv, p. 140; xxxii, p. 347.—W. Blanford, Eastern Persia, ii, p. 56, PI. Y, fig. 2. 
2 A. Milne-Echvards, Rech. Mam., p. 291, PI. XLIII, fig. 1. 
O 
