This is a not uncommon species in the Kakhyen hills to the east of Bhamd,
where it is associated with R. pruinosus, which is more prevalent. I t constructs
its burrows among a rank and tall jungle grass, on the roots of which it is said to
live. I t is known to the Chingpaws or Kakhyens as the Yewcron.
Measurements of JR. badius, Hodgson.
• .8 . 9
Inches. Inches.
Muzzle to vent .................................................
„ ,of first finger ................................................. ........................................................... o-io
„ of middle finger...............................................................................
„ of hind foot ...............................................................................
,, of first toe . . . . . . . 029
„ of middle t o e ..................................................
Eye to eye, inner angle (calipers) .................................................................................................... 0-80
„ to ear ( c a l i p e r s ) ................................................. 0-82
Ear to ear (calipers) ......................................................... 115 105
R h iz o m y s s in e n s i s , Gray.
RMzomys sinensis, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soe. Loud. 1831, p. 95, et 111. Ind. Zool. ii. pi. xvi.; Schreber,
Saugeth. 1843, vol. iii. p. 867; Swinhoe, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1870, p. 637'.
Rhizomys delean, Scliinz (in part), Syn. JVTamm. 1845, vol. ii. p. 124.
Rhizomys vestitus, A. M.-Edwards, Nouv. Arcb. du Mus. 1871, p. 93, et Rech. des Mammif. 1874,
p. 292, pi. xlvi.
The fur is very thick and dense, easily reversible, fine and silky. The basal
portion is pure grey, and the tips are pale brownish with a rich shining lustre. The •
brownish hue is most marked on the sides of the face below the ear, and on the
front of the head, hut in the younger example the area of. the sides of the head
and of the chin and throat to the side of the muzzle is grey, approaching to white.
The under parts are much the same as the upper. The daws of both feet are
strong and olive-brown. The foot-pads appear to he smooth.
Inches.
The body measures from muzzle to root of tail . . . . . 9'30
Length of t a i l ........................................................................................ . 2-90
Hr. Gunther obligingly had the skull of JR. sinensis removed from the skin of
the larger of Dr. Gray’s types of this species, and I have carefully compared it
with the figure of the skull of JR. vestitm. The only perceptible difference that
it presents on the skull as figured by A. M.-Edwards is that the post-orbital
contraction is more marked, and that thus the temporal ridges are earlier confluent
than in R. vestitus, hut this contraction is not carried to a greater degree than
occurs among skulls of JR. pruinosus and the other species of Rhizomys. I t
agrees with JR. vestitus in the long continuous transverse suture formed by the
confluence of the nasal premaxillary and maxillary hones with the frontal, and
which is a notable feature in JR. vestitus. I t also resembles that skull in the great
breadth which it presents across the posterior roots of the zygomatic arches, in the
form of its nasals and the palatal surface, and in its dentition. These facts, taken
in conjunction with the similarity of the fur of JR. sinensis and JR. vestitus in
colour and texture, the length of the tails of the two supposed species, and the
circumstance that they are both inhabitants of China, R. sinensis having been
procured at Canton, and R. vestitus in Central China, seem to me to indicate that
they are one and the same.
Since the above remarks were written, I have examined the skull and the type
specimen of R. vestitus, and my examination of these has confirmed me in the
opinion I have just stated.