MAMMALS—TALPIDAE-—CONDYLURA CRISTATA. 
73 
The edges of the antitragus and antihelix (otherwise naked) are beset by long hairs like those 
on the rest of the body. 
The general character of the ear is as in the short-tailed American shrews, ( Blarina ), with 
less development of auricle, however; the antitragus and antihelix serve as valves to close 
the opening into the internal ear. 
The hands are broad, but not so large as in Scalops, and present a striking resemblance to 
those of terrapins. There are a few hairs on the back of the hand, near the base, and there is 
a fringe encircling the entire palm ; the rest of the hand, including the whole of the under 
surface, and most of the upper, is free of hairs, and closely covered with a pavement of brown 
scales or plates, of nearly uniform size below, but larger near the outer margin above. The 
whole of the hind foot is similarly constituted as to plates on both surfaces ; there are a few 
hairs near the outer edge of the anterior surface. There is a large, horny tubercle on the inner 
edge of the sole, midway between the heel and the tip of the first claw, sometimes developed 
into a process resembling that on the hind foot of a toad ; there are three other smaller ones 
in a line at nearly equal distances near the outer edge. 
The hind feet, though narrower than the anterior, are considerably longer. The width of 
the palm is about half its length, or equal to the distance from wrist to base of fingers. The 
fingers and their claws in both feet decrease regularly from the fourth to the first; the outer 
one but little shorter than the fourth. The hand is only webbed between the basal phalanges 
of the fingers. The outer edge of the under surface of each of the anterior fingers is extended 
into three laciniated horny processes. These are not found on the hind feet. 
The tail is long ; without the hairs, about as long as the body, exclusive of the head. It is 
covered with annulations of rather large, coarse scales, which, however, are much obscured by 
the long bristly hairs which spring between them. It is much constricted at the base, swells 
rapidly to the basal fourth, and then tapers gently to the tip. Usually the greatest diameter 
of the tail is about .20 of an inch ; but during the breeding season, by the deposition of fat 
under the skin, it swells to an enormous size, so as to exceed half an inch in thickness. Speci¬ 
mens vary in the length of the tail, which appears longer in the males than the females. 
The fur of this animal is much coarser than in the common mole, and without its lustrous 
gloss. It consists of two kinds of hair, a basal fur, with longer, coarser hairs, thickly inter¬ 
spersed. The longest measure about half an inch. 
The color is a uniform dark, sooty brown, or blackish, barely appreciably lighter beneath. 
The fur is a dark plumbeous from base to near the sooty tips, a little paler beneath. 
The variation in the size and length of the tail has caused the erection of several species of 
Condylura. All that have come under my notice, however, appear to be the same, although it 
is quite possible that the species from Oregon, described by Richardson as Condylura macroura 
of Harlan, may be distinct. 
The skull of Condylura presents several peculiarities of great interest compared with that of 
its allies. It is much longer and more slender in its proportions. The upper outline of the 
skull is concave, from the posterior third to the nasals, and then straight to the end of the 
latter, which terminate behind the canines instead of projecting beyond the incisors. The 
cranium is almost as high as broad ; the auditory foramina very large and conspicuous, some¬ 
what as in the shrews. There is a notch in the posterior edge of the palate, reaching to the 
penultimate molar, instead of this posterior edge being straight, and at some distance behind 
he last molar. 
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