418 MICROTIN^ 



members of the A. scherman group, but its characters are still 

 imperfectly known. Pomel says that the skull closely resembles 

 that of ^. s. monticola in the form of the frontal, on which the 

 superciliary ridges are in contact but not fused (indicating that 

 his specimen was a subadult skull), but differs in its slightly 

 larger and posteriorly less contracted anterior palatal foramina, 

 in its less flattened nasals, in its larger post-palatal pits and 

 narrower choanse; " c'etait une espece du type des Schermaus, 

 c'est-a-dire s'eloignant beaucoup plus du bord des eaux que les 

 rats d'eau, et peut-etre tout-a-fait terrestre comme le Monticola 

 d'Auvergne." 



This species is represented, in the British Museum, by portions 

 of twelve skulls and a number of mandibular rami from the 

 Pleistocene deposit at Neschers, Auvergne (Croizet Collection). 

 These remains suffice to confirm Pomel's statement that A. 

 antiquus is a member of the A. scherman group ; in size, straighten- 

 ing of the upper incisors, narrowness of nasals, extensive post- 

 palatal pits, and in the form of the mandible this fossil species 

 is much like A. abbotti. None of the skulls from Neschers shows 

 the occiput, and in the absence of such a specimen it is impossible 

 to complete the comparison of the French and British fossils. 



Parts of fourteen skulls and about sixty mandibular rami 

 from the Pleistocene cave deposit at Bruniquel, Tarn-et-Garonne, 

 are in the Museum and these are evidently to be referred to A. 

 antiquus also. 



Two left and two right mandibular rami from a Pleistocene 

 cave deposit in the Frou-du-Sureau, near Montaigle, Valley of 

 the Meuse, are referable to the A. schennan group and may 

 perhaps belong to A. antiquus. 



Lastly some fragmentary jaws and detached teeth from the 

 Pleistocene of Mayence (B.M., Nos. 30518, 30519; Hastings 

 Coll.) and other fragmentary remains from the Bromburg Cavern, 

 Posen (B.M., No. 53; Soemmerring Coll.), are not specifically 

 determinable. Remains of " A. amphibius " have been recorded 

 from many continental Pleistocene deposits by Nehring, Woldrich 

 and others, but in the absence of material I am unable to say 

 what species or groups these represent. 



