VOL. XVI, PP. 161-164 NOVEMBER 30, 19(53 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



DESCRIPTIONS OF TWO NEW MOLE RATS. 

 BY GERRIT S. MILLER, JR. 



[By permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.] 



Among the Old World rodents in the United States National 

 Museum are two forms of Spalax, which I am unable to iden 

 tify with any of the species recently characterized by Nehring 

 and Satunin. One is from northern Dobrudscha, the other from 

 Beyrout, Syria. They may be described as follows: 



Spalax dolbrogeae, sp. nov, 



Type. Adult male (skin and skull), No. 122,109, United States Na 

 tional Museum. Collected at Malcociu, Dobrudscha, Rumania, March 

 20, 1903. Received from Wilhelm Schliiter of Halle, a. S., Germany. 



Characters. A medium sized species nearly as large as Spalax micro- 

 phthalmus, which it resembles in the form of the molar teeth, but from 

 which it differs conspicuously in the much larger parietal bones. 



Color. Back, sides, and posterior half of head ochraceous-buff, slightly 

 paler than that of Ridgway, the fur everywhere slate-gray beneath sur 

 face. Underparts and legs slate-gray, the color of sides extending as a 

 distinct wash across middle of body. Face, cheeks, and region about 

 mouth silvery drab-gray, the two lines of bristle-like hairs extending 

 back from muzzle whitish in rather marked contrast. 



Skutt. In general form the skull rather closely resembles that of 



tipalax microphthalmus as figured by Nehring, but the lambdoid ridge is 



almost straight, and each parietal bone is nearly as broad as long, and in 



size fully equal to the two together in the skull of the larger animal. 



41 PROC. BIOL. Soc. WASH. VOL, XVI, 1908, (161) 



