Schinz, Syn. Mamm. vol. ii. 1845, p. 86; Müller und Schlegel, Verhandl. 1889-44, pp. 86, 95 f
Cantor, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. xv. 1846, p. 25 0 ; Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. vol. xvi. 1847,
p. 872; ibid. vol. xxiv. 1855, p. 476; Cat. Mamm. As. Soc. Mus. 1868, p. 105.
Sciwrus griseiventer, Is. Geoff. St.-Hü. Mag. de Zool. 1882, cl. i.; Yoy. aux Indes Orient. Bölangei',
Zool. 1884, p. 147; Coulon, Mem. de Soc. Neufchatel, vol. i. 1885, p. 124, pis. xi. and x ii.;
Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vol. xvi. 1847, p. 872; ibid. vol. xxiv. 1855, p. 476.
Sciurus affinis, Wagner, Schreber, Säugeth. Suppl. vol. iii. 1848, p. 202.
Sciwrua assamensis, Gray, Hand-List, B. M. 1848, p. 143 (in p art).
Macroxus nigrovittatus, Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xx. 1867, p. 278.
Macroxus { B a g in ia ) p l a n t a n i , Gray, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. xx. 1867, p. 279.
I have examined the type of 8. nigrovittatus, Horsfd., and another specimen
referred to the same species, besides three examples of S. plantani. The consideration
of these had suggested to me, before I had read the remarks of Horsfield
and of Müller and Schlegel on S. nigrovittatus, that the two so-called species were
very closely allied.
Horsfield observed that S. nigrovittatus agreed with S. plantani in the distribution
of the external marks, hut that it was of somewhat larger size, and, as far as he
had ascertained, was less abundant in Java. I t had also, according to him, a darker
tint above, while the under side was grey with a bluish cast: the transverse hands
of the tail were broader and more strongly marked, and he considered that the black
line along the sides afforded a clear specific distinction. The type, however, is not so
dark as one of the examples of IS. plantani, another of which shows quite as grey a
belly as 8. nigrovittatus. The only perceptible difference between the latter and the
former is the more intense dark lateral line, and the less strongly marked yellow
line in S. nigrovittatus; and Müller and Schlegel state that there is no distinction
between these supposed species other than a deviation in colouring which is by
no means constant.
Dr. Gray in his Synopsis of the Asiatic Squirrels regarded 8. nigrovittatus and
8. plantani as so distinct that he placed the former in his sub-division (b) characterised
by “ the pale lateral streak on the side of the body with a black streak
beneath i t ; the fur black, blackish, or olive; beneath, red; tail as long as body and
h e a d t h e latter he classed in his sub-division (c), which he denominated JBagmia
and distinguished as follows: “ The pale lateral streak, with a streak of the same
colour as the back beneath i t ; fur olive, punctulated; tail elongate, as long as the
body and head; hairs pale, ringed.” The artificial nature of this arrangement is at
once apparent from the circumstance that S. nigrovittatus has a bluish-grey belly,
while one of the leading features of the sub-division in which Hr. Gray placed it was
the red hue of the belly!
Two squirrels from Western Java obtained by Mr. Wallace and now in the
TnrHa.n Museum are undoubtedly referable to 8. pla/ntam. The one is a young
male and the other is an adult of the same sex. The character of the upper parts is
the same as in light-bellied individuals. In the younger specimen, the under parts
from the chin to the vent, the inside of the limbs and under surface of the tail, are
pale orange-yellow in the adult; this colour is richer and of a much lighter and
more orange tint than in 8. vittatus, and the orange colour of the under parts does
not extend on to the under surface of the tail.
The upper fur of 8. pla/ntam, in its light-coloured stage, is distinguished from
that of 8. vittatus by its less rufous and more olive tint, and by the greater paucity
of the long shining dark-brown hairs which are so numerous in the fur of
8. vittatus, also by the slightly larger size of the annuli.
Another specimen from Sarawak is in the rich, dark stage of the upper fur,
in which condition it resembles 8. vittatus, but the tail is uniformly and much
more finely annulated throughout than in S. vittatus, and wants the rufous tip of
unannulated hairs.
The squirrel referred to by Raffles as much smaller than 8. vittatus, and
differing from it by the absence of the white stripe on the sides,—in the under parts
being of a greyish-white, not fulvous,—and in the tail wanting the fulvous hairs at
its point, and having the light and dark colours more distinct and somewhat annu-
lated,—is doubtless an example of 8. nigrovittatus.
This is a very common species in almost all the large islands of the Tn/hVn
Archipelago, but chiefly in Sumatra, Java, and Borneo.
SciXJRTJS DESCHINSCHICTJS, Gmftlin.
JjJEcweuil de Gingi, Sonnerat, Voyage aux Indes Orient, vol. ii. 1782, p. 140.
Das Eichhorn aus Deschinschi, Schreber, Säugeth. vol. iv. 1792, p. 788,
Sciwrus deschinschicus, Gmelin, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. 1788, p. 151.
Sciwrus gingianus, Shaw, Genl. Zool. vol. ii. pi. i. 1801, p, 147; Kuhl. Beitr. zur Zool. und Anat.
1820, p. 67.
Sciwrus albovittatus, Desm. var. deschinschicus, Fischer, Syn. Mamm. 1829, p. 860; Gray, Ann. and
Mag. Nat. Hist. 1868, 4th ser. vol. i. p. 309.
Sciwrus plantani, Wagner, Schreber, Säugeth. vol. iii. 1848, Suppl. p. 197 (in part).
Hr. Gray has directed attention to Sonnerat’s description of this squirrel from
Gingi, near Pondicherry. If a laterally lineated squirrel exists in Southern India,
it is a fact of considerable interest, as these forms have been found, hitherto,
only in the Malayan peninsula.
ScruRUS PREVOSTii, Besmarest.
Sciwrus prevostii, Desmarest, Mamm. 1822, p. 885; Horsfd. Resch. Zool. Java, 1824; Desmoulins,
Diet. Class. d’Hist. Nat. vol. vi. 1824, p. 72; Lesson, Man. de Mamm. 1827, p. 236;
Fischer, Syn. Mamm. 1829, p. 356; Waterhouse, Proc. Zool Soc. 1842, p. 116; Cat. Mamm’.
As. Soc. Mus. 1868, p. 101; Wagner, Schreber, Säugeth. Suppl. vol. iii. 1848, p. 195;
Gray, List Mamm. B. M. 1848, p. 142; Schlegel, Nederland. Tijdschr. yol. i. 1868, p. 24*
pi. i. fig. 1 .
Sciwrus rafflesii, Vigors and Horsfield, Zool. Journ. No. xii. April and July 1828, vol. iv. pi. iv.
p. 118; ibid.-vol. v. May 1829 to February 1880, p. 141; Müll. & Schleg. Verhandl. 1839-44,
p. 93; Gervais, Mag. de Zool. 1842, pi. xxxiii. et Voyage autour du monde (Eyd. and Soul.)
Zool. vol. i. 1841, p. 40; Waterhouse, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842, p. 116; Gray, L ist Mamm. B. M.