Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon

Genus Anurosorex

Remarkably for its large head, nude, scaly extremities, and extremely short, nude, scaly tail. “The structure of the ear, limbs and tail has special reference to a burrowing animal—the ear being valvular, so that it may be effectually closed against the entrance of foreign substances, and the feet devoid of hair, but scaly, and the tail reduced to very small dimensions. The eye is also excessively small, and buried deep in the dense silky fur. The hind feet, contrary to what is almost invariably the case in burrowing mammals, are larger than the fore feet.”—Anderson.