Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Part 70

NO. 401. ALACTAGA INDICA.

NATIVE NAME.--_Khanee_, Afghan.

HABITAT.--Afghanistan; Eastern Persia.

DESCRIPTION.--Fawn colour above; the hair with black tips and ashy grey at the base; under-parts white; upper parts of thigh white; a black spot behind and inside the thigh just below the white; remainder of the outside and lower part of the inside of the thighs brown; a white line running down the front, and extending over the upper portion of the tarsi and feet; proximal portion of tarsus brown at the sides. (_See_ 'Blanford's Eastern Persia,' vol. ii. p. 77.) The tail is brown with a white tip; ears thinly clad with brown hairs; head brown above, whitish around the eyes; whiskers black.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3-1/2 inches; tail, 7 inches.

This animal is unfortunately named, as it is not Indian at all; equally unfortunate, as Mr. Blanford has shown, is Blyth's name _Bactria.n.u.s_, for it does not inhabit that tract, so the original t.i.tle stands. Hutton, in his 'Rough Notes on the Zoology of Candahar'

('J. A. S. B.' xv. p. 137), writes of it as follows: "This beautiful little animal is abundant over all the stony plains throughout the country, burrowing deeply, and when unearthed bounding away with most surprising agility after the manner of the kangaroo-rat. It is easily tamed, and lives happily enough in confinement if furnished with plenty of room to leap about. It sleeps all day, and so soundly that it may be taken from its cage and examined without awaking it; or at most it will half open one eye in a drowsy manner for an instant, and immediately close it again in sleep. It retires to its burrows about the end of October, and remains dormant till the following April, when it throws off its lethargy and again comes forth." There is a good engraving of this animal in Ca.s.sel's new Natural History.

We have now closed our account of the Myomorpha or Mouse-like Rodents, and will proceed to the next Section, HYSTRICOMORPHA, or Porcupine-like Rodents.

SECTION III.--HYSTRICOMORPHA.

PORCUPINE-LIKE RODENTS.

This section contains six families, viz.:--

_Octodontidae_ = 3 sub-families, 18 genera.

_Hystricidae_ = 2 sub-families, 5 genera.

_Chinchillidae_ = 5 genera, of which two are fossil.

_Dasyproctidae_ = 2 genera.

_Dionymidae_ = 1 genus.

_Caviidae_ = 3 genera.

Of these we have to deal with but one, the second family, _Hystricidae_, the rest belonging to Africa in part, but the majority to the American continent, chiefly South America.

I give the general characteristics of the section as laid down by Mr. Alston:--

"One premolar above and below (except in _Ctenodactylus_); grinding teeth rooted or rootless, not tuberculate; frontals with no distinct post-orbital processes (except in _Chaetomys_); infra-orbital opening large, sub-triangular, or oval; zygomatic arch proportionately stout; molar not advancing far forward, (except in _Ctenodactylinae_ and _Chinchillidae_) and not supported below by a continuation of the maxillary zygomatic process; incisive foramina small; foramina in the base of skull proportionally large; an inter-pterygoid fissure; mandible with its angular portion springing from the _outer side_ of the bony covering of the lower incisor, triangular, usually pointed behind; coronoid process small, and condyle low; clavicles perfect or imperfect; fibula persistent as a distinct bone throughout life; upper lip rarely cleft; m.u.f.fle clad with fine hairs; nostrils pointed above, sigmoid or linear; ears usually emarginate behind; tail hairy, sub-naked, or scaly."--'P.

Z. S.,' 1876, p. 90.

As I have said before, we have only to do with the _Hystricidae_ or Porcupines, but many of the others are familiar by name. Of the _Octodontidae_ the best known is the coypu of the Andes, one of the largest of the rodents, and the ground-rat or ground-pig of western and southern Africa. The chinchilla, which is the typical form of the third family, is known to all, especially ladies, from its delicate soft fur. The agouti of South America is the representative of the _Dasyproctidae_. The family _Dinomyidae_ consists of one animal only, _Dinomys Branickii_; the only known example of which was obtained in Peru on the Montana de Vitoc. It was found walking about in a yard at daybreak, and showed so little fear of man that it suffered itself to be killed by the stroke of a sword. It is a pity no one was sensible enough to try and take it alive. As yet nothing is known of its habits. Of the last family, _Caviidae_, the cavy and the capybara are well known to travellers in South America, and the common guinea pig is familiar to us all.

FAMILY HYSTRICIDAE--THE PORCUPINES.

In this family the hairs of the body are more or less converted into spines or quills; the form of the skull is peculiar, being ovate, often greatly inflated with air cavities in the bones; the facial portion is broad and short; the malar portion of the zygomatic arch has no inferior angular process as in the _Octodontidae_; the occipital plane or hinder-surface is perpendicular, with a median ridge; the incisor teeth are large and powerful; the molars with external and internal folds, four in each jaw. The form is robust; limbs sub-equal; fore-feet with four toes, and a small wart-like thumb; hind-feet with four and five toes; tail long in some, short in others. There are two sub-families--_Sphingurinae_ and _Hystricinae_. With the genera of the first we have nothing to do.

They include the prehensile-tailed porcupines of South America, _Sphingurus prehensilis_, _S. villosus_, and _S. Mexica.n.u.s_, all arboreal forms, and the Canada porcupine (_Erythizon dorsatus_) which is covered with woolly hairs and spines intermixed. The true porcupines, sub-family _Hystricinae_, consist of two genera, both of which are represented in India--_Atherura_ and _Hystrix_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Skull of Porcupine.]

SUB-FAMILY HYSTRICINAE--THE TRUE PORCUPINES.

Grinding teeth semi-rooted; skull rather more elongate; infra-orbital foramen of great size; clavicles imperfect, attached to the sternum, and not to the scapula; upper lip furrowed; tail not prehensile; soles of feet smooth. The female has six mammae. In these points they differ from the American arboreal porcupines (_Sphingurus_), the skull of which is very short, the tail prehensile, the soles of the feet tuberculated, and the female has only four mammae.

The two genera, _Atherura_ and _Hystrix_, which compose this sub-family, are distinguished by long tail and flattened spines (_Atherura_); and short tail and round spines (_Hystrix_).

_GENUS ATHERURA--THE LONG-TAILED PORCUPINE_.

Nasal part of skull moderate; upper molars with one internal and three or four external folds, the latter soon separated as enamel loops; the lower teeth similar but reversed; the spines are flattened and channelled; the tail long and scaly, with a tuft of bristles at the end.

NO. 402. ATHERURA FASCICULATA.

_The Brush-tailed Porcupine_.

HABITAT.--a.s.sam, Khasia hills, Tipperah hills, Burmah, Siam, and the Malayan peninsula.

DESCRIPTION.--"The general tint of the animal is yellowish-brown, freckled with dusky brown, especially on the back; the spines, taken separately, are brown white at the root, and become gradually darker to the point; the points of the spines on the back are very dark, being of a blackish-brown colour. The long and stout bristles, which are mixed with the spines on the back, are similarly coloured"

(_Waterhouse_, 'Mammalia,' vol. ii. p. 472). The spines are flat on the under-surface and concave on the upper, sharply pointed and broadest near the root. Mixed with the spines on the back are long bristles, very stout, projecting some three inches beyond the spines, which are only about an inch in length; below these is a scanty undergrowth of pale coloured hairs; the tail is somewhat less than half the length of the head and body, scaly, and at the end furnished with a large tuft of flattened bristles from three to four inches long, of a dirty white colour, with sometimes dusky tips; the ears are semi-ovate; whiskers long and stout, and of a brown colour; muzzle hairy; feet short, five toes, but the thumb very small, with a short rounded nail.

SIZE.--Head and body, 18 inches; tail, exclusive of tuft, 7-1/2 inches.

Specimens of this animal were sent home to the Zoological Gardens, from Cherrapoonjee in the Khasia hills, by Dr. Jerdon. This species is almost the same as the African form (_A. Africana_). They are about the same in size and form and in general appearance. This last is found in such plenty, according to Bennett, in the Island of Fernando Po as to afford a staple article of food to the inhabitants. Blyth was of opinion that the Indian animal is much paler and more freckled than the African.

_GENUS HYSTRIX--THE PORCUPINE_.

"Spines cylindrical; tail short, covered with spines and slender-stalked open quills; nasal cavity usually very large; air sinuses of frontals greatly developed; teeth as in _Atherura_. The hind-feet with five toes; claws very stout."

The hinder part of the body is covered by a great number of sharp spines, ringed black and white, mostly tipped with white; the spines are hollow or filled with a spongy tissue, but extremely tough and resistant, with points as sharp as a needle. The animal is able to erect these by a contraction of the skin, but the old idea that they could be projected or shot out at an a.s.sailant is erroneous. They easily drop out, which may have given an idea of discharge. The porcupine attacks by backing up against an opponent or thrusting at him by a sidelong motion. I kept one some years ago, and had ample opportunity of studying his mode of defence. When a dog or any other foe comes to close quarters, the porcupine wheels round and rapidly charges back. They also have a side-way jerk which is effective.

NO. 403. HYSTRIX LEUCURA.

_The White-tailed Indian Porcupine_ (_Jerdon's No. 204_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Kanta-sahi_, _Sayi_, _Sayal_, _Sa.r.s.el_, Hindi; _Sajru_, Bengali; _Chotia-dumsee_, Nepali; _Saori_, Gujrati; _Salendra_ and _Sayal_, Mahrathi; _Yed_, Canarese; _Ho-igu_, Gondi; _Phyoo_, Burmese; _Heetava_, Singhalese.

HABITAT.--All over India (except perhaps Lower Bengal), Burmah and Ceylon.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Hystrix leucura_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Blackish-brown; muzzle clad with short, stiff, bristly hairs; whiskers long and black, and a few white spines on the face; spines on the throat short, grooved, some with white setaceous points forming a half-collar; crest of head and neck formed of long black bristles, with here and there one with a long white tip; the spines of the sides are short, flattish, grooved or striated, mostly with white points; the large quills of the back are either entirely black or ringed at the base and middle with white, a few with white tips; the longer and thinner quills on the back and sides have long white terminations; many of these again, particularly the longest, have a basal and one or two central white rings; the short quills on the mesial line of the lumbar region are nearly all white, and the longer striated quills of this region are mostly white; quills of the tail white or yellowish, a few black ones at the root; pedunculated quills are long, broad, and much flattened in old animals.

SIZE.--Head and body, 32 inches; tail, 8 inches.

The description given in his 'Prodromus Faunae Zeylanicae' by Dr.

Kellaart, who was a most careful observer, has been of great a.s.sistance to me in the above, as it was also, I fancy, to Jerdon, and his subsequent remarks are worthy of consideration. "The identification of species from single characters," he observes, "is at all times difficult and unsatisfactory in the genus _Hystrix_, particularly so as regard the conformation of the skull." And again: "The number of molars varies also in different specimens. In two adults obtained at Trincomalee there were only three molars on each side of the jaw, four being the dental formula of the genus _Hystrix_."

I think such aberrations ought to warn us from trying to make too many genera out of these animals. Dr. Gray, whose particular forte--or shall I say weakness?--was minute subdivision, cla.s.sed (in 1847) the Indian porcupines in three sub-families, _Hystrix_, _Acanthion_, and _Atherura_; and _Acanthion_ he some years after (1866, _see_ 'P. Z. S.' p. 308) divided again into three groups, _OEdocephalus_, _Acanthochaerus_ and _Acanthion_. The difference in the skull of _Hystrix_ and _Acanthion_ lies in the intermaxillaries and the grinders, as follows:--