as gnawing and excavating tools as well as for the purposes of alimentation; for it allows of substances being gnawed away without the products of the chisel-like action being taken into the hinder cavity of the mouth. The Rodents have for the most part a simple stomach of normal form; but in a few this is complicated by a marked constriction, which divides the cardiac from the pyloric portions. The Hamster, for example, is thus characterised. In all the members of the order, with the exception of the Dormice and some allied forms, the caecum is large and often sacculated. In some forms (e.g. Arvicola, Myodes, Cuniculus) the large intestine is coiled upon itself in a spiral way—a state of affairs strongly suggestive of Ruminants.
The Rodents are primarily divisible into two great groups, the Simplicidentata and the Duplicidentata, characterised mainly by the upper incisor teeth. In the former there is but one pair of these teeth; in the latter a second smaller pair lie behind the former.
Sub-Order 1. SIMPLICIDENTATA.
Section 1. Sciuromorpha.
The Anomaluri are separated by Thomas and others from this section as an equal section, while by Tullberg they are grouped with Pedetes.
Fam. 1. Anomaluridae.—The genus Anomalurus suggests at first sight the Flying Squirrels of Asia, Pteromys. It is, however, an entirely African genus, and is to be distinguished from the Asiatic Rodents by a series of scales at the root of the tail, imbricated, keeled, and forming possibly a "climbing organ." This character serves also to distinguish the present genus from Sciuropterus. The cartilage, moreover, which supports the patagium springs from the elbow. There are four molars in each half of each jaw. The eyes and ears are large. There are five fingers and toes, but the thumb is small, though provided with a nail. The sternum has seven joints, and nine ribs reach it. The clavicle is strong. Huet, who has recently monographed the genus,[1] allows six species. The species vary in size.
- ↑ "Observations sur le genre Anomalurus," Nouv. Arch. Mus. (2), vi. 1883, p. 277.
