E. LÖNNBERG, MAMMALOGY OF ECUADOR. 49 



Dinonys braiiickii Peters occidentalis n. subsp. 



1 (^ semiad., ^6 1916, road to Gualea, about 6,000 feet; 

 1 5 ad., 1 J^ juv., 1 5 juv., June 1918, Hambo near Gualea, 

 about 5,000 feet. 



It was of very great value and interest to receive not 

 less tban four specimens of this rare rodent, and tbe interest 

 is increased by the remarkable variation in colour which is 

 displayed by them. The adult female has a brown ground 

 colour, which resembles that of the common Paca. The semi- 

 adult male has the ground colour black, but the two young 

 ones are paler even than the female. The ground colour of 

 the young male resembles, however, that of the adult female 

 on the hind quarters, but is paler and more resembling the 

 palest shade of »burnt umber» (Oberthur: Rép. d. Coul. 

 304, 1) on the före quarters. Many of the long hairs even 

 outside the white pattern have long white tips or subapical 

 rings. The legs are more dusky brown than the body, but 

 overlaid with many long white hairs. The head is påle 

 greyish with a påle shade of burnt umber on the crown, 

 almost pure white on snout and chin and with white whiskers. 



The young female specimen may almost be termed semi- 

 albinistic, as it does not show any melanine pigment. The 

 ground colour is a påle shade of buff (Rép. de Coul. 309, 1) 

 almost white on the head and below as well as on the legs. 

 The white pattern of the upper side is alike in all four spe- 

 cimens. 



Considering the colour of the different known specimens 

 of Dinomys it is to be observed that Peters' type was a 

 male and black, Goeldi's fullgrown specimen was a female 

 and brown like a Paca. The male specimen of this collec- 

 tion is also black, while the female is Paca-brown. (The 

 young ones I do not count, as they probably are not nor- 

 mally coloured, but among them as well the male was darker 

 than the female). It is thus possible that in this genus the 

 males are black, and the females brown. 



The type of Dinomys hranickii was taken by Jelski in 

 the Andes of Peru. Goeldi received his specimen from such 

 a locality that he expressed his belief concerning its habitat 

 thus: — — — »its actual habitat may rather be located in 



Arkiv för zoologi. Band 14. N:o i. 4 



