106 BULLETIN 9&, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Zanzibar: "Zanzibar," 1 (purchased from Wilh. Scliluter). 



The Zanzibar specimen is without record other than the locahty 

 "Zanzibar" written on the label. This may be regarded as doubtful; 

 the specimen may well have come from some mainland locality. It 

 is much more like skins of the Taita Mountains form than like those 

 of osgoodi from Mazeras, but lias a much larger proportion of the 

 tail whitish than in any specimen of either of these races in our 

 collection. 



In Heller's journal of the Rainey Expedition he notes that the 

 giant rats were abundant in the Taita HiUs; he often saw their holes 

 and runwaj^s in the forests which clothe the summits. He found 

 them gentle in the traps and they did not offer to bite when stroked. 

 The natives use them extensively for food. 



CRICETOMYS GAMBIANUS OSGOODI HeUer. 



Plate 29. 



1912. Cricetomys gambianus osgoodi Heller, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 59. 

 No. IG, p. IG. July 5. (Mazeras, British East Africa; tj'pe in U. S. Nat. 



Mus.) 



Specimens. — Nine, as follows: 



British East Africa: Mazeras (Heller). 



The type-specimen of this subspecies is not, as stated in the original 

 description, an aged individual. Tiie skull is by no means fully grown 

 and the molar teeth are only moderately worn. 



Genus LOPHUROMYS Peters. 



1806. Lasiomys Peters, Mon.-ber. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss.. Berlin, 1SG6, p. 409. 



(L. afer. Not of Burmeister, 1854.) 

 1874. Lophuromys Peters, Mon.-ber. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss.. Berlin, 1874. 



p. 234. (L. afer.) 



The "harsh-furred" mice, as the members of this genus have been 

 called, are among the most beautiful of aU the African rodents. 

 Their warm, rich coloration and general appearance suggest strongly 

 certain members of the Neotropical genus Oxymycteris, and curiously 

 enough the superficial appearance of skulls of the two genera pre- 

 sents many features in common. The number of forms, their exact 

 relationship, and distribution, are still doubtful and the genus pre- 

 sents many problems for a careful monographer. 



For tables of measurements of specimens see pages 107-109. 



LOPHUROMYS AQUILUS AQUILUS (True). 



Plate 30. 



1892. Mus aquilus True. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 15, p. 460. October 26. 

 (Mount Kilimanjaro, German East Africa; type in U. S. Nat. Mus.) 



1909. Mus aquilus Lyon and Osgood, Bull. 62, U.S. Nat. Mus., p. 144. Janu- 

 ary 28. 



1909. Lophuromys zena Dollman, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, vol. 4, p. 550. 

 December. (East side of Aberdare Mts., near Nyeri, British East 

 Africa; type in British Museum.) 



