CHARACTER.—Molars tuberculate, at least in youth; infra-orbital opening typical; pterygoid fossæ lengthened; auditory bullæ moderate; cheek pouches absent or very small; tail scaly, more or less naked, cosmopolitan (Alston). Three molars in each jaw, the first of which is the largest and the hinder one the least. I think that, with the exception of the islands of the Pacific Ocean, some of the members of this family are known in every quarter of the globe.
"Muzzle pointed; eyes prominent; ears rather large, sub-naked; fur soft (rarely mixed with spines); pollex rudimentary; claws short; tail moderate or long, scaly, with scattered hairs; no cheek pouches; skull elongate, narrow; temporal ridges nearly parallel; palate compressed; incisive foramina long; auditory bullæ moderately large; coronoid process high, falcate; incisors rarely grooved; molars with transverse ridges, each composed in youth of three tubercles" (Alston).
[NO. 332. MUS RATTUS.]
The Black Rat (Jerdon's No. 175).
NATIVE NAMES.—Kala-mus, Kala-chuha, Hindi; Kala-meeyo, Singhalese.
| Dentition of Black Rat. |
HABITAT.—Chiefly Europe, but is said to be of south Asian origin; it is stated to occur in towns near the sea-coast in India, and Kellaart obtained it in Trincomalee only.
DESCRIPTION.—Greyish-black above, dark ashy beneath, or, as Kellaart describes it, "above blackish-brown, along the dorsal line nearly black; sides paler, some of the hairs with pale fulvous tips; beneath and inside of limbs fur very short, of a uniform sooty ash colour, separated from the colour above by a distinct line of demarcation; ears large, rounded, slightly fulvous externally" ('Prodromus Faunæ Zeylanicæ,' p. 58).
SIZE.—Head and body about 6½ to 7½ inches; tail, 7½ to 8 inches.