332 
INSEC TIVORES. 
by webs, while the soles of the feet are furnished with large disc-like pads. The 
web-footed shrew lias a tail of 4 inches in length, while the length of the head and 
body is but just over 3| inches. The fur, which is extremely dense and soft and 
evidently adapted to withstand the icy cold of the Tibetan rivers, is of a rich dark 
brown colour above, with the longer hairs of a glistening white, while the chin and 
throat are whitish, and the belly light brown. 
It does not appear that this shrew has ever been seen by Europeans disporting 
in the waters of its native streams. From its structure we may, however, con¬ 
fidently infer that it is more thoroughly aquatic than any other member of the 
family; and it has been suggested by Milne-Edwards, its original describer, that 
the disc-like pads on the soles of the feet act as suckers, and thus enable the 
animal to cling to the surfaces of smooth pebbles or rocks during its sojourn 
beneath the water. 
The Desmans and Moles. 
Family Talpibn. 
The European desmans and the more widely-spread moles are the best known 
representatives of two sections of a family which, while allied in many respects to 
the shrews, possess characters of sufficient importance to justify its separation 
SKELETON OF MOLE. 
therefrom. In the first place, the skull in all members of the family Talpidce is 
distinguished from that of the Soricidce by having a distinct zygomatic arch 
connecting the upper jaw with the region of the ear; this difference being distinctly 
shown by a comparison of the figure of the skeleton of the mole given herewith 
with that of the skeleton of the water-shrew on p. 324. Then, again, on the under¬ 
surface of the hinder part of the skull, whereas the so-called bulla of the internal 
ear is represented in the shrews merely by an open ring, in the desmans and moles 
it has a complete bladder-like form. Further, the first incisor tooth of both jaws 
in the members of the present family is of a normal type, and never assumes the 
peculiar form which has been shown to be characteristic of all the shrews. 
Most of the members of the present family are of fossorial habits, although a 
few are more or less completely aquatic, and others cursorial. All have long shrew¬ 
like skulls, and small eyes and ears ; while in most cases the fore-limbs are placed 
