VOL. XIV, PP. 91-93 JUNE 19, 1901 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



THK GENERIC NAMES MYRMECOPHAGA AND 



TAMANDUA, AND THE SPECIFIC NAMES 



OF THE OPOSSUMS OF THE 



GENUS DIDELPHIS. 



BY J. A. ALLEX. 



In the 'American Naturalist' for February, 1901 (pp. 143- 

 145), Mr. Oldfield Thomas refers to recent articles by Mr. Rehn 

 and myself concerning the names Myrmecophaga and Didel- 

 phis. Without going into the matter with sufficient care I as 

 sented* to Mr. Rehn's contentionf that the Linnaean Mijrme- 

 <-<>pIi<i</<i was not tenable for the Great Anteater, known as 

 Myrnn'<-<>i>1i(} jnht Linn., but I have to confess that I had 

 not access to Marcgrave, and gave the matter only passing at 

 tention, as my special question at the time was the status of the 

 genus IMdelphia. As Mr. Thomas has shown, Myrmecophaga 

 is perfectly tenable for the Great Anteater, and its proper 

 specific name is tridoctyla Linn. 1758 (jubata Linn. 1766). In 

 concluding his notice of Myrmetophacfa, he says: "As a re 

 sult I claim that Sfyrrtteeophaga tri<Ictyla Linn, should be the 

 name for the Great Anteater, Uroleptes and Cyclopes remaining 

 as before for the other genera of the family." 



*Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., XIII, p. 185, Oct , 1900. 

 fAm. Nat., XXXIV, p. 185, July, 1900. 



14 BIOL. Soc. WASH. VOL. XIV, 1901. (91) 



