190 Annals of the South African Museum. 



preserved in alcohol in the Leyden Museum, obtained in Damaraland 

 by M. Kellen, and is not represented in the South African Museum 

 collections. 



FAMILY MUEIDAE. 



SUB-FAMILY GBEBILLINAE. 



GEN. GERBILLUS. 



Gerbillus, DESMAREST, N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. (l),xxiv., tabl., p. 22 

 (1804). Type G. aegyptim. 



Rat-like animals with somewhat pointed muzzles and moderate- 

 sized ears, sparsely covered with hairs : tail long, hairy, and usually 

 slightly tufted ; hind feet elongated, with four rounded tar sal pads ; 

 skull with large and swollen bullae ; upper incisors grooved (in 

 all South African species) ; molars at first tubercular, but after wear 

 consisting of a series of transverse or elliptical laminae ; the anterior 

 tooth in each jaw consisting of three, the middle of two, the posterior 

 of one only. 



This genus is a very large one, and spread over the greater part 

 of the Old World, and has been studied in considerable detail by 

 Lataste ; the South African species, however, are in a good deal of 

 confusion, which cannot well be rectified until a re-examination of 

 the old types and a comparison of them with freshly collected 

 material has taken place. 



A recent paper by Mr. de Winton has thrown some light on the 

 subject ; he recognises four species as existing in South Africa : of 

 these, three are closely allied and difficult to distinguish ; the fourth, 

 G. 2)aeba, is considerably smaller and of a rather different colour. 



GERBILLUS PAEBA, THE BED GERBILLK. 



Gerbillus paeba, A. SMITH, App. Eeport Exped. Explor. S. Afr., 

 p. 43 (1836) ; DE WINTON, Ann. Mag. N. H. (7), ii., p. 3 (1898). 



Gerbillus tennis, A. SMITH, Illustr. Zool. S. Afr. Mamm., pi. xxxvi., 

 fig. 2 (1849) ; THOMAS, Proc. Zool. Soc., p. 265 (1882) [Damaraland] . 



? Gerbillus tenuis, var. schinzi, NOAK, Zool. Jahrb., iv., p. 134, 

 pi. iii., figs. 13-16 (1889). 



? Meriones (Eliombomys} caffcr, WAGNER, Arch. f. Naturg., i., p. 18 

 (1842) ; id., SCHREBER, Saugeth. Suppl., iii., p. 482 (1843). 



Description. General colour above pale reddish orange, rather 

 darker along the back owing to brown pencilling ; bases of the fur 



