RODENTS OF LIBYA 259 



did not drop below 45° F. At Cussabat, which we visited during early 

 summer (late June), the maximum daytime temperatures were even 

 higher and exceeded 100° F, and at night the minimum temperature 

 was 57° F. The relative humidity, for the two days spent at Cussabat, 

 was 72 and 70 percent respectively. To what extent these high tem- 

 peratures and the high humidity influenced the behavior of the gundis 

 is not known, but certainly the high daytime temperatures induced 

 them to remain more inactive during the middle of the day. 



Gundis do not share these rocky habitats with any other species of 

 large rodent, but near Rumia, several specimens of Gerbillus campestris 

 were taken from traps set among rocky outcrops known to contain 

 gundis, and at Cussabat, an elephant shrew (Elephantulus Thomas and 

 Schwann) was obtained from a rocky surface over which gundis 

 frequently travelled. 



A skull of a young female, 325855, from near Cussabat, shows two 

 distinct bregmatic bones in the middorsal region near the fronto- 

 parietal suture. 



In general appearance, habits and habitat preferences, the gundi 

 resembles the pikas of the genus Ochotona, which are entirely unrelated 

 and confined to temperate Asia and North America. 



Ctenodactylus gundi vali Thomas 



Ctenodactyhis vali Thomas, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, pt. 2, p. 11, October 1902 

 (Wadi Bey, northwest of Bu Ngem, Libya). 



Specimens examined. One, from Wadi Bey, 45 km W Bu Ngem, 

 Tripolitania. 



Measurements. The external measurements of the above specimen, 

 an adult female, 302296, are: Total length 178; length of tail ?; length 

 of hind foot 38; length of ear 19. No cranial measurements are avail- 

 able. 



Diagnosis. Entire pelage extremely long, fluffy and silky, Light 

 Pinkish Cinnamon dorsally, uniformly suffused with brown and black- 

 tipped hairs, and Light Buff ventrally with faint admixture of Warm 

 Buff; characters of the facial region, fore and hind feet, and ear 

 essentially as in C. g. gundi, but hind feet more nearly white dorsally 

 and color of outer margin of pinna of ear darker and more nearly 

 approaching that of the dorsal pelage. Skull: Similar in general shape 

 and configuration to that of C. g. gundi but with markedly larger and 

 more inflated mastoidal and audita! portions of the auditory bulla, 

 less flaring nasals anteriorly, and smaller infraorbital foramina. 



Comparisons. For comparisons with Ctenodactylus gundi gundi, see 

 account of that subspecies. 



Remarks. Thomas, in 1902, described Ctenodactylus vali from the 

 Wadi Bey near Bu Ngem, Tripolitania, and examined specimens from 



