A nearly allied, but larger species, the Himalayan Water Shrew (Crossopus himalaicus), occurs in the streams of the Himalayas. Mr. Jerdon, who obtained it from the Little Rungeet River at Darjeling, describes it as five or six inches long, dark brown or blackish above, paler beneath, and with a bunch of hairs at the tip of the tail. It was said to kill small fish, tadpoles, aquatic insects, &c. Another species (C. platycephalus) inhabits Japan.
The Marsh Shrew (Sorex palustris), of North America, has bean referred to this genus by some authors; but it has a long slender, cylindrical tail, with a pencil of hairs at the tip, and Professor Baird refers it to the genus Sorex. The teeth are the same in number as in Crossopus, and likewise have their tips reddish-brown. This species inhabits the northern parts of North America up to Hudson’s Bay Territory.
THE TIBETAN WATER SHREW.[287]
This is another of the Mammals for the knowledge of which we are indebted to the Abbé David, and it is one of the most curious species of this family, presenting a combination of characters peculiar to itself with those of the True Shrews and the Desmans. “Its head and skull,” says M. A. Milne-Edwards, “refer this animal to the Soricidæ, whilst its palmated feet and compressed tail indicate close affinities with the Myogalidæ; but the sucking discs with which the lower surfaces of its feet are furnished belong to itself alone, and nothing of the same kind is to be found in the allied groups.”
In some respects the Tibetan species is allied to the European Water Shrew, but it has only twenty-eight instead of thirty teeth, namely, incisors, 3–31–1, canines, 1–11–1, molars, 4–44–4; the skull is flattened; the body robust, and supported on short limbs; the muzzle short, broad, and conical, with large whiskers at the sides, and the nostrils opening laterally near the extremity; the eyes exceedingly small; and the ears entirely concealed by the hair and quite destitute of a conch. The tail is stout, longer than the body, quadrangular at the base, then triangular, and finally flattened at the sides; and the feet are large and broadly palmated, so as to form vigorous swimming organs, very closely resembling those of the Desmans. As in the latter animals, the feet are fringed with stiff hairs of peculiar construction; but the nails, which in the Desmans are strong, are here small and weak. The sucking discs, already mentioned as peculiar to this animal, are certainly among its most remarkable characteristics. They occur upon the feet of both pairs, and consist of large pads, depressed in the middle to form cups, which are doubtless of service to the animal in its aquatic mode of life.
The Tibetan Water Shrew is rather a large species, measuring, when adult, nearly eight inches in total length, more than half of which, however, is occupied by the tail. It is thus much larger than the British Water Shrew. Its body is covered with hair of two kinds. Close to the skin is a very thick soft down of a slaty grey colour, through which pass numerous longer hairs, which are grey at the base and white at the extremity, causing the animal to vary considerably in appearance, according as these longer hairs are raised or laid flat. The lower parts of the body are white.
In its compressed tail and largely webbed feet this Shrew possesses most admirable instruments for progression in the water; in fact, it must be regarded as the most thoroughly aquatic of all the family of the Shrews. According to its discoverer, it lives habitually on the banks of the impetuous torrents which descend from the mountains of Moupin in Tibet; and notwithstanding the rapidity of these streams, it swims and dives in them with the greatest facility, chasing the small fishes which constitute its principal food. Although not uncommon in its native region, its activity in the water renders its capture exceedingly difficult. In order to procure specimens, it is necessary to divert the course of a stream, and then pursue the animals into the holes in which they take refuge.
THE TAILLESS SHREW.[288]
Another curious little Mammal, brought from Tibet by the Abbé David, is described by M. A. Milne-Edwards as forming a distinct genus, under the name of Anurosorex, or the Tailless Shrew. It has only twenty-six teeth in all, namely, incisors, 2–21–1, canines, 1–11–1, and molars, 4–44–4. The tail is remarkably short, scarcely passing beyond the hairs of the body, slender, slightly flattened, of the same thickness throughout, and covered with small scales, from between which project a few very short hairs. The general form of the body is mole-like, the head is large, the muzzle conical, flesh-coloured, having the nostrils on each side near its extremity, and furnished with long whiskers. The eyes are scarcely perceptible, and the ears are entirely concealed beneath the hairs. The feet are short and scaly, whence the name given to the species, and the fore-feet are broader and stronger than the hind-feet, thus furnishing all additional indication of affinity to the Moles.
This species was found abundantly both in the Plains and mountains of Setchouan and Tibet, where it lives in burrows which it digs in the earth. Its total length is little more than four inches, and its fur, which is very silky and thick, is of a grey colour with a greenish brown tinge. The feet are whitish and the nails white.