DIAGNOSES OF NEW EAST AFRICAN MAMMALS, 

 INCLUDING A NEW GENUS OF MURID/E. 



BY WILFRED H. OSGOOD, 



ASSISTANT CURATOR OF MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY. 



The following brief descriptions are published in advance of a 

 detailed report, now in preparation, on the Field Museum's expedi- 

 tion to British East Africa in 1905-6. Through the courtesy of the 

 officials of the British Museum, especially Mr. Oldfield Thomas, it has 

 been possible to make direct comparisons with types and authenticated 

 specimens of previously described species. The liberality of Mr. 

 Thomas, himself at work on East African collections, in freely 

 advising as well as in giving access to material, is most gratefully 

 acknowledged. 



Procavia mackinderi zelotes subsp. nov. 



Type from between Naivasha and Kijabe, British East Africa. 

 No. 17475, Field Museum of Natural History. Adult male (stage 

 VIII). Collected January 27, 1906, by C. E. Akeley. 



Characters. Similar to Procavia mackinderi but smaller; pelage 

 shorter and harsher; subterminal zone of color on hairs of shoulders 

 and back narrower and darker. Similar to Procavia jacksoni in color 

 but widely different in cranial characters ; skull shorter and broader 

 throughout; nasals shorter; temporal fossae more extended posteri- 

 orly; molariform teeth much larger and more hypsodont. 



Measurements. Average of 6 adults from Kijabe, measured in the 

 flesh by E. Heller: Total length 470 (420-530); ear 32.6 (30.5-38); 

 hind foot (c. u.) 63.5 (60-68). Skull of type: Basal length 89.5; 

 basilar length 78; zygomatic breadth 53.2; nasals 22.5x23.4; 

 breadth between extremities of postorbital processes 38.8; dias- 

 tema 8.4; maxillary toothrow (crowns) 40; greatest width of mJ- 7, 

 of m- 8.4. 



Remarks. Procavia slatini Sassi is evidently closely allied to P. 

 mackinderi and the present form but no specimens representing it 

 have been available for comparison. Since another form of the 

 same group is known from the region intervening between the type 

 locality of slatini and that of zelotes, it seems safe to assume that 

 the two forms are well differentiated. 



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