0 T 0 I T | ALB I GAU-'DATU S
(M’axQmaka_TyIa.te 3.3.'
OTOMYS ALBICAUDATUS.—S m it h .
M ammalia.— P l a t e XXXIII. (M a l e .)
O. supra brunneo-griseus, profundi brunneo-penicillatus; infra sordid^ subcinereus; cauda ferrugineoalba;
pilis versus radicem schistosis; oculis profundi brunneis; auribus magnis.
Longitudo ab nasi apice ad basin caudse 5 unc. 9 l i n .; caudee 2 unc.
Otomys albicaudatus, Smith,—South African Quarterly Journal, vol. i. p. 148. 1834.
C o l o u r .— Head, back, and sides wood-brown, tinged with grey, and sparingly
pencilled with umber-brown ; the grey tinge is strongest upon the upper
and lateral parts of the head and neck, the pencilling of umber-brown is very
distinct upon the centre of the face, the vertex, the back of the neck, and the
superior parts of the body, on the upper portion of the sides it is less marked,
and on the inferior portions nearly wanting. The lower parts of the sides,
the belly, the fore-legs, and the inner surfaces of the hinder legs dusky ash-
grey ; outer surfaces of buttocks the same colour as the b ack; feet wood-
brown, tinged with grey. Tail rusty white. Chin and lips white. Ears
internally flesh-coloured, with a purplish tinge, the few hairs which exist
towards their outer edges dusky-brown, the outer surfaces the same colour
as the back. Muzzle flesh-coloured. Eyes a deep rich brown. Teeth, ochry
yellow. Whiskers partly black, partly silvery white. The colours of the
head, neck, and body, as above described, are confined to the points of hairs ;
behind the points each hair is of a pale blackish purple or slate-colour. The
pencilled appearance is occasioned by there being a number of long dark
hairs interspersed among the fur: in some specimens these hairs are in great
numbers, and in them the dark colour is very distinct.
F orm, &c .—Figure rather robust. Head broad behind, slightly convex
above; before eyes it is narrow and somewhat cylindrical; nose truncated.
Eyes large and rather prominent. Ears large, patulous, ovate, and pointed,
both their surfaces with a thin sprinkling of short and rather rigid hair. Legs
* The group which we proposed, in 1834-, to designate by the term Otomys is very different from that
to which the same term has been applied by F. Cuvier. He, employed Otomys as a substitute for Euryotis,
Brants; hence exposed it to be classed as a synonym.