Vol. XIV, pp. 91-93 June 19, 1901 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THB 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



THE GENERIC NAMES MYRMECOPHAGA AND 



TAMANDUA, AND THE SPECIFIC NAMES 



OF THE OPOSSUMS OF THE 



GENUS DIDELPHIS. 



BY J. A. ALLEN. 



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

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

 and myself concerning the names Myrmecopliaga and iJufel- 

 p/tifi. Without going into the matter with sufficient care I as- 

 sented* to Mr. Rehn's contention f that the Linna'an Mi/rme- 

 c(ipli<i<j<i was not tenable for the (ireat Anteater, known as 

 Myntu^copliiiiia juhdta Linn., but I have to confess that I had 

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

 tention, as \\\y special question at the time was the status of the 

 genus Dideljilnx. As Mr. Thomas has shown, ^fi/rtiitroplKK/d 

 is perfectly tenable for the (rreat Anteater, and its proper 

 specific name is trl<l(icti/Iii Linn. J 7.38 {jnlxitu Linn. ITiUi). In 

 concluding his notice of ^li/nii<'C(>/)li<ui<i, he says: ''As a re- 

 sult I claim that Mtjnn(^<'(>j>/i(i<ja trhhirti/hi Linn, should be tlie 

 name for the Great Anteater, l^roleptes and Cyclopes remaining 

 as before for the other genera of the family."" 



*Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., XIII, p. 18.). Oct , 1900. 

 fAm. Nat., XXXIY, p. 18.5. .Tuly, 1900. 



H— Biol. Soc. Wash. Vol. XIV. 1901. (91) 



