GERBIKLUS ' ATmiCCttSARIS (A M ale , B 7 em a le)
. (Mammalia..— P la ,te 2 <&)
GERBILLUS AURICULARIS.—S m it h .
. Mammalia.—P late XXVI.—Male and F emale.
Cr, supra fulvus, infra albus ; capita supra, dorso, caudaque brunneo-penicillatis; cirro albo post aurem
utramque. Oculis profunde brunneis. Caudd brevi.
L ongitudo corporis cum capite 4 unc. 10 lin ; caudee 3 unc. 3 lin.
Gerbillus auricularis.—Smith, South African Quarterly Journal, No. 2, New Series, March 1834.
Gerbillus brevicaudatus, F. Cuy.—Transactions of the Zoological Society of
London, Part ii. vol. 2, page 144; 1836.
CoLODRH-JRafe.—The upper surface of the muzzle and head reddish
orange, deadened with a faint shade of brown; the back and sides of the
body intermediate between ochre and sienna-yellow, the former distinctly, the
latter indistinctly variegated with delicate short striae of an umber brown
hue ; the fur of these parts is tricoloured, being of a dull slate hue towards the
base, ochry yellow in the middle, and dark brown at the surface. The sides
of the muzzle, the eyebrows, the sides of the head, the whole of the fore legs,
the tarsi of the hinder legs, and the under surface of the neck and body, all
pure white, except the tarsi, which are slightly tinted with grey. The tail
and outer surface of the hinder legs, towards the body, the same colour as
the sides, the under surface of the former rather lightest. Ears a pale flesh
colour, and behind each a broad tuft of long white hair, most distinctly seen
when on the animal’s being excited, the ears are erect. Whiskers brownish
red. Eyes deep umber brown. Claws pale yellowish brown.
F orm, &c.—Figure short and thick; muzzle slender, head moderately
broad. Ears rather small, suhovate, semicircular at the points, and nearly
destitute of fur. Legs short, and rather slender. Tail robust, tapered from
the base, and thickly covered with short, recumbent, wiry hair. The incisors
of upper jaw slightly arched, and each with a central longitudinal groove
anteriorly ; the incisors of the lower jaw compressed, slender, subhorizontal, or
only slightly curved and without grooves. The first or anterior molar of each
jaw largest, the last smallest; the first of the upper and lower jaw are formed
nearly alike, the crown of each consists of three distinct portions separated
from each other by two deep transverse fossa, the first portion is somewhat
cylindrical, with a cup-shaped cavity at its summit, round which is an edging