DESMANS. 
333 
very far forward on the body, and are more or less specially modified for the 
purpose of digging in the ground. The family, although by no means so 
numerous in species as the shrews, is a comparatively large one, containing at least 
eight distinct generic modifications. It is entirely confined to the Northern Hemi¬ 
sphere, where it is widely distributed over the temperate regions of Europe, Asia, 
and North America. 
The Desmans. 
Genus Myogale. 
The strange-looking desmans, of which there are two species, are aquatic 
animals belonging to a section of the family characterised by the fore-limb not 
RUSSIAN DESMANS (4 uat. Size) 
being specially modified for the purpose of digging. They thus form a 
connecting link between the shrews and the moles. This absence of special 
modification is exhibited by the bones of the skeleton of the fore-limb, in which 
the collar-bone (clavicle), and the arm-bone (humerus) still retain a distinctly 
elongate form, while there is no additional bone in the fore-foot 
The desmans are provided with the typical number of forty-four teeth, and are 
further characterised by their completely webbed feet, their long trunk-like snout, 
which projects far in advance of the upper lip, and the elongated and scaly tail. The 
Russian desman {Myogale moschata ) is considerably the larger 
Russian Desman. ^ two, its total length being about 16 inches, of which some 6| 
are occupied by the tail. The fur is dense and thick, like that of an otter, with the 
outer portion formed of long stiff hairs, and the under-coat soft and woolly. Above, 
it is of a full reddish-brown, and beneath of an ashy-grey, with a silvery lustre 
