No. 399 Rhizomys Minor. — The Small Bamboo-Rat
Native Name.—Khai, Aracanese.
Habitat.—Burmah, Upper Martaban, and at Yanageen on the Irrawaddy.—Blyth.
Description.—“Dark sooty brown above, slightly tinged with deep umber, which is most distinct on the sides of the head and neck, and in reflected light; the under parts are like the upper, only the brown tint is almost absent; the whiskers are black, and tail very sparsely haired” (Anderson). “Dusky brown colour, with white muzzle and around the eye, and pale naked feet” (Blyth).
Size.—Head and body, 6½ inches; tail, 1¾ inch.
Blyth says he obtained a living specimen in Upper Martaban, and recognised it as the same as what had been obtained in Siam. The Rev. Mr. Mason writes of it: “This animal, which burrows under old bamboo roots, resembles a marmot more than a rat; yet it has much of the rat in its habits. I one night caught a specimen gnawing a cocoa-nut, while camping out in the jungles.”
I may here mention a curious little animal, which is apparently a link between the MURIDÆ and the SPALACIDÆ, Myospalax fuscocapillus, named and described by Blyth (‘J. A. S. B.’ xv. p. 141), found at Quetta, where it is called the “Quetta mole.” A full account of it by Mr. W. T. Blanford is to be found in the ‘Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ (vol. L. pt. ii.).
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