I
rl I
H Y S T R IC IM .
Genus H y s t r i x , Linn.
* H y s t r i x y u n n a n e n s i s , n. s .
. The porcupine which occurs in the high valleys and on the mountains to the
east of the Kakhyen hills resembles the common porcupine of Lower Bengal in the
possession of a nuchal crest, hut it is at the same time markedly distinct from it
in the size and relations of its nasals which conform to the type represented by
E . (Acanthion) javanica. I t is thus closely allied to E . javanica? from which it
is distinguished by the presence of its. moderately well developed crest, which,
however, is very small compared with the great crest of E . leucura? but large
contrasted with the few scattered longer hairs of E . longicauda, s and shorter than
the crest of H. bengalensis .* In its crest it apparently closely resembles E . mb-
cristata, Swinhoe,6 from China, and had not Swinhoe stated that the skull of E . sub-
cristata is very similar in form to the skull of E . hodgsoni, Gray,61 would have
been disposed to consider this Western Yunnan porcupine as E . mbcinstata ; but as
its skull is that of an Acanthion, it is impossible, in view of Swinhoe’s statement, to
consider them as the same species. I have therefore no alternative but to describe
the Yunnan form as distinct.
Lark brown on the head, neck, shoulders and sides, passing into deep black on
the extremities, a very narrow white line passing backwards from behind the angle
of the mouth to the shoulder; under surface brownish. The spiny hairs of the
anterior part of the trunk flattened, grooved, or ungrooved. The crest begins behind
the occiput and terminates before the shoulders; the hairs are long, slender, and
backwardly curved, the generality of them being about 4£ inches long, while the
longer hairs measure about 6 inches. They are all paler than the surrounding hairs,
and the individual hairs are either broadly tipped with yellowish-white, or they have
a broad sub-apical band of that colour. The short broad spiny hairs lying a
short way in front of the quills are yellow at their bases, the remaining portion
being deep brown, whereas those more quill-like spiny hairs, immediately before
the quills, have both ends yellow-tipped. The quills are wholly yellow, with the
exception of a dark brown, almost black band, of variable breadth and position.
I t is very broad in the shorter quills, and is nearer the free end of the quill t.Via.n
its base; whereas, in the long and slender quills, it is reduced to a narrow mesial
band. The stout strong quills rarely exceed 6 inches in length, whilst the slender
quills are 1 foot long. Posteriorly, above the tail and at its sides, many of the short
quills are pure white. The modified quills on the tail, with dilated barb-like free
ends, are not numerous, and are also white. There are three kinds of rattle-quills • ‘
1F. C u t . : M6m. du Mus., vol. is, 1822, pp. 425 and
431, Tab. 20, bis. figs. 3 and 4, skull.
*Proc. Zool. Soc., July 1831, p. 103.
sMarsden: Hist. Sum., 1810, p. 118, Plate x iii,n. 1.
4 B ly th : Joum. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xx, 1852, p. 170.
5 Proc. Zool. Soc., Lond., 1870, p. 638.
8 Proc. ZooL Soc., Lond., June 1847, p. 101.
the most numerous measure 0'65" in the length óf the dilated hollow part, having
a Tmmrmim breadth of 0'21", whilst there are a few short cups 0‘38" in length and
with a, breadth of 0T7*, and besides these a very few more elongated and narrow
cylinders occur. The hind foot measures 3 inches in length to the end of the claws.
The distinguishing features of the skull of this species, as in Eystrix (A.)
javcmica, are the nasals stopping short posteriorly, considerably anterior to the
orbit, and even before the anterior angle of the external portion of the lachrymal;
the nearly equal breadth maintained by the nasals throughout their length; also the
greater breadth of the naso-frontal portion of the premaxillary, the posterior margin
of which is considerably anterior to the first molar, whereas in E . bengalensis,
as in E . longiccmda, it is in a line with the posterior border of the first molar, the
point in a line with which are the posterior borders of the nasals of E. ywn/na/nensis.
The posterior margins of the nasals of E . longiccmda are in a line with the middle
of the third molar, whilst in E . bengalensis they occupy nearly the same relation
to the molar teeth. In E . longicauda. they are much behind the posterior
superior angle of the lachrymal, whereas in E . bengalensis they are in a line with it.
The nasals of L. longicauda and E . bengalensis are considerably longer than
the nasals of this species, and they are largest in E . bengalensis. In both they
are considerably broader, more especially posteriorly, and in E . longiccmda they are
broader than in E . bengalensis. The skull is also distinguished from the skulls of
both these porcupines hy the much greater length of the frontals. Their greatest
length on the upper surface nearly equals the length of the nasals, whereas in
E . longicauda it falls short of one-half of the length of these bones, while in
E . bengalensis it equals one-half. In E. yimnanensis the length of the parietals in
the mesial line equals- about one-half of the length of the frontals before them,
whilst in E . longicauda that measurement is nearly as long as the frontals, whereas
in E . bengalensis the parietals are shorter than in E . longicauda, indeed so short
that their mesial length does not equal one-half of the length of the frontals.
The. teeth do not appear to yield any characters that, would enable us to distinguish
this porcupine from the species with which I have compared it. The upper
incisors show a tendency to longitudinal grooving and to the formation of nearly three
distinct furrows, but this is also occasionally developed in E . leucura..
Inferior border of foramen magnum to tip of premaxilke . . . • .
Greatest breadth across zygomatic a r c h ........................................................... .........
•Length of n a s a l s ................................................................................................................................
Greatest breadth of conjoint nasals .........................................................................................
Breadth o f frontal process o f premaxilla .........................................
Distance of anterior margin of orbit anterior to posterior ends o f nasals . ■ .
Tip o f premaxillte to anterior border of first molar.....................................................................
Length of molar line . . . .
Posterior border of palate to inferior margin of foramen magnum . . . .. .
This species is not at all uncommon in the elevated region (2,000 to 4,500
feet) to the east of the Kakhyen hills.
In the Indian Museum, Calcutta, there is a specimen sent by Hodgson from
Nepal of a porcupine which he named E . alophous.* I t is entirely destitute of a