196 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 75 



pelage; forefeet, bearing five digits with claws, remarkably small in 

 view of the fossorial habits of these rodents; hind feet also relatively 

 small and with five digits, but with larger claws; fore and hind feet 

 approaching color of dorsum, but naked ventrally. Skull: Large, 

 massive, and angular with conspicuous development of the lambdoidal 

 and sagittal crests; shape of skull almost triangular in outline owing 

 to the relatively small braincase, the abrupt anterior convergence of 

 the zygomata and the relatively short and wide rostum; interorbital 

 breadth markedly constricted; supraoccipital markedly expanded 

 dorsally, with numerous inflated elevations, and directed a consider- 

 able distance anteriorly; incisors extremely long, relatively narrow, 

 and orange in color on their anterior faces ; molarif orm teeth moderate 

 in size with intricate interwoven patterns in the enamel and dentine, 

 and with conspicuous styles on the lateral surfaces; infraorbital 

 foramina large with corresponding reduction in size of the frontal 

 plate of the premaxillae; dorsal margin of foramen magnum smoothly 

 rounded; auditory bullae markedly reduced to thick, heavily ossified 

 structures with prominent external meatal processes and conspicuous, 

 attenuated styliform processes; anterior palatine foramina markedly 

 reduced in size; palate with prominent mid ventral rib; posterior 

 palatine canals small and inconspicuous; pterygoid processes heavy 

 and with club-shaped hamulae; basioccipital broadly wedge-shaped. 



Remarks. Nehring (1897) regarded the mole rats of the Near East 

 as representing several distinct species. He described Spalax ehrenbergi 

 from Jaffa, Palestine, Spalax kirgisorum Nehring from northern Syria, 

 Spalax intermedins Nehring from farther south in Syria, and named 

 Spalax aegyptiacus Nehring with the type locality at Ramleh, near 

 Alexandria, Egypt. Later, Mehely (1913) regarded all members of this 

 group as one species and considered S. kirgisorum and S. aegyptiacus 

 as varieties of Spalax ehrenbergi. Many years later, Ellerman (1941) 

 elevated S. kirgisorum to full species status on the basis of page priority 

 in the original description and relegated £. ehrenbergi and S. aegyptia- 

 cus to subspecific rank, thus reversing the taxonomic status of S. 

 ehrenbergi and S. kirgisorum. A short time later, Bate (1945) observed 

 that, although the description of S. kirgisorum clearly preceded that of 

 S. ehrenbergi, the latter form is given a prior place in illustrations of 

 cheek teeth, and is followed by S. kirgisorum. She stated that in works 

 published prior to 1931, figures are acceptable as valid descriptions, 

 and therefore the name Spalax ehrenbergi should be regarded as ante- 

 dating that of Spalax kirgisorum. 



More recently, Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951) consider S. 

 ehrenbergi as a valid species but regard S. kirgisorum as a synonym of 

 S. ehrenbergi ehrenbergi. Thus, the species S. ehrenbergi is currently 

 composed of two subspecies, S. e. ehrenbergi and S. e. aegyptiacus. 



