Genus Rhizomys — The Bamboo-Rat
“Form robust; eyes very small; ears very short, naked; pollex rudimentary; tail rather short, partially haired; skull broad; occipital plane only slightly sloped forward; infra-orbital opening small, sub-triangular; upper incisors arched forward; no premolar; upper molars with one deep internal and two or more external enamel-folds; the lower molars reversed.”
—Alston.
No. 396. RHIZOMYS BADIUS.
The Chestnut Bamboo-Rat (Jerdon’s No. 201).
Native Name.—Known to the Chingpaws or Kakhyens as the Yewcron.—Anderson.
Habitat.—The Sikim and Nepal Terai; Burmah; Arakan; Kakhyen Hills.
Description.—Fine fur, of a grey or slaty grey for two-thirds of the basal portion, the remaining upper third being from a deep to a bright chestnut. “Most intense on the head, and dullest on the rump” (Anderson). “Below dark ashy grey” (Jerdon). “The fur of the under-parts in these Eastern examples of the species” (referring to those from the Kakhyen hills) “is paler and more reddish than chestnut, whereas in some Nepal animals it inclines even to slaty grey, washed with reddish. The area immediately around the muzzle and the chin is pale brownish, with a tinge of greyish, and the teeth are brilliant reddish, the nose, ears, feet, and tail being pale flesh-coloured” (Anderson, ‘Anat. and Zool. Res.’ p. 329).
Size.—Head and body, 7 inches; tail, about 2½ inches.
Jerdon says of this species that “it eats the roots of bamboos and other trees, constructing burrows under the roots. It is said to be very bold, and easily taken.” “In Burmah it constructs its burrows amongst a rank and tall jungle grass, on the roots of which it is said to live” (Anderson). Blyth, who writes of the Burmese form, says: “it is barely separable from R. badius, from which it seems to differ only in its much brighter colouring.”
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