LÖNNBERG, A NEW SUBSPECIES OF CLAWLESS OTTER. 3 



to find out to which animal it belongs »on account of the ab- 

 sence, as usual, of all diagnostic characters in what its describer 

 calls a 'diagnosis' ». Professor Trouessart has kindly commu- 

 nicated that there is no specimen of Rochebrune's Otter in 

 the museum in Paris and that the species in question must be 

 regarded as purely imaginär}'. This name as well must there- 

 fore be rejected. 



In låter times several races of Clawless Otters have been 

 described viz : 



Lutra capensis meneliki Thomas^ from Lake Tsana, Abys- 

 sinia. 



— capensis hindei Thomas- from the Ken3'a District, Brit. 

 East Africa, but låter found as far South as 13° S. lat. in a 

 ttibutary of Upper Zambese in Rhodesia.^ 



— capensis angolce Thomas^ from Coporole R., Angola. 

 There are thus in the present time. including the typical 



South African race, four distinct subspecies of the Clawless 

 Otter described from Africa, and when the knowledge about 

 these animals increased, Thomas rightl}' restored^ to them, and 

 their Indian alh^ L. cinerea, the generic name Aonyx which 

 originally was given to them by Lesson 1827. 



In their general appearance the African subspecies of 

 Aonyx are very much alike and they are most easily recognized 

 by cranial characteristics, although they also can be distin- 

 guished by externa! characters. 



The specimen collected by Mr. Laman is at once distin- 

 guished by the dimensions of the skull especially the teeth, but 

 there are also other distinsuishing characters to be found. 

 These characteristics taken together are so important that I 

 find it necessary to create a new subspecies which may be 

 called: 



Aonyx capensis congica. 



General colour dark chocolate brown but less dark than 

 A. c. hindei. L^nlike the latter the whitish margin to the ears 

 is well developed. As in ^. c. angolce and meneliki the hairs of 

 the head, nape, and upper neck are narrowty tipped with white. 

 Above the eves numerous yellowish white hairs form an ill-de- 



^ Proc. Zoo]. Soc. London 1902 p. 309. 

 '^ Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (7). Vol. 15. 1905 p. 78. 



^ Lönnberg. On the Clawless Otters of Centr. Afr., Ark. f. Zool. 

 Bd. 4. N:o 12. Stockholm 1908. 



^ Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (8), Vol. 1. 1908 p. 388. 



