rrrporcs vftulus. 



153 



<i. J imin. sk. ; Pi. de France, New C'ale- ParcLased (Mr. 59.4.6.1. 

 skull. donia; Alay 1, 1858. Oumingj. 



{Type uf species.) 

 h. c? imm. sk. ; Pt. de France, April Tomes Coil. 7-1.1.252. 



BkuU. 20, 1 858 {H. N. Turner), 



c. Imm. sk. ; skull. New Caledouia (if. iV'. Tomes Coll. 7.1.1.253. 



Turner). 



[Pteropus yetulus, Jounn. 

 Pteropus Vetula, Jmian, Mem. Sua. Imp. Sci. JS''at. Cherbourg, ix. p. 90 



(1803: New Caledonia); id., op. c. x. p. '6\)l (18ti4 : New Caledouia). 



Pteropus gerinaini, Bohsun, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 874 (1879: New Caledonia); 



Truucasart, lieu, cj- Mag. Zool. (3) vi. p. 1^04 (1879) ; JJobsun, Rep. Brit. 



Afsoc. IBsU, p. 172; Trouessurt, Cat. Mamm. i. p. 78 (1897;. 



Pteropus (Spectrum) vetulu.s a.germaiiii, Troaessart, Cat. Mamm., Siippl. 



p. 51 (19U4). 



Jouan's two species o/ Pteropus from New Caledonia. — In his Notes on llie 



Fauna of New Caledonia (18(53, I. c.) Capt. Jouan distinguished two species of 



Pteropus, viz. " P(. rubricoUis, Leith. ? " ["Leith." evidently a misprint for 



Lath. ; the correct author's name would be E. Geofl.] and " Pt. Vetula, 



Montrouzier" {Pt. Vetula is probably a manuscript name taken up by Jouan ; 



it does not occur in any of Pere Montrouzier's published papers, so far as 



known to me ; his article on New Caledouia i:i the ' Revue algerienne et 



coloniale,' April-May, 1800, has been looked up for me by Professor Trouessart). 



Probably owing to the lacts that Jouan's description of Pt. vetulus was very 



fragmentary and that one of its principal ditferential characters, as compared 



with his " /Y. rubricoUis," was stated to be its considerably smaller size, Peters 



(MB. Akad. Berlin, 1807, p. 323) regarded " Pt. rubricoliis" as the adult, Pt. 



vetulus as the young of one species, for which he therefore retained the name 



Pt. vetulus, and this view was apparently accepted by later revisers of the 



genus (Dobson, Matschie). But in 1879 Dobson himself described a new 



species from New Caledonia, Pt. germaini, said to differ from Pt. ornatus, 



inter alia, in precisely those two characters which, according to Jouaa, 



distinguish Pt. vetulus from " Pt. rubricoUis," viz., much smaller size and 



longer fur. This fact certainly greatly strengthens the assumption that Jouan 



was right in considering his two species perfectly distinct. So far as the 



available information in literature goes (I have not seen the type of Pt. vetulus 



nor that of Pt. genrMini), the characters and nomenclature of these two New 



Caledonian Pteropi are as follows : — 



The species hesitatingly identified by Jouan with Pt. rubricoUis will (if, as 

 here presumed, different from his Pt. Vetula) have to stand as Pt. ornatus, 

 Gray, 1870 ; synonym, Pt. vetulus, Peters, 1807, et auclorum plurimorum, iiec 

 Jouan, 1863. The only important items in Jouan's description of " Pt. rubri- 

 coUis" avs these four : (1) length of bead and body 250 mm.; (2) ears very 

 small; (3) fur of head, back, and belly "laineus"; and (4) colour '" roux " 

 with mantle " hlanc-jaunatre." All these characters agree vi'xlh Pt. ornatus, 

 and the second, third, and fourth absolutely exclude the only other New 

 Caledouian species of similar size, Pt.geddiei. — Jouan's second species, " Pt. 

 Vetula,'' was stated to diil'er from the foregoing: (1) " par sa taille constam- 

 ment plus petite," the length of the head and body benig only 100 mm., and 

 (2) by having the fur "plus long, pliltot soyeux que laineux." This species 

 wiU have to stand as Pt. vetulus, Juuan. 1803, nee auctorum plurimorum ; 

 synonym Pt. germaini, Dobson, 1879. 



Pt. germaini, Dobson. — Summary of original description: — Teeth simple, 

 like those of Pi. giganteus. Ears shorter than muzzle, concealed by long fur of 

 head. Fur long u,nd woolly, like that of Pt. anetianus ; tibiffi clothed with long 

 fur extending to backs of feet. Colour: bend and whole inferior surface of 

 body dark blackish brown interspersed with several shiny greyish hairs, 

 shoulders and back darker, rump and legs greyer ; fur of mantle pale yellow 

 with reddish e.xtremities ; muzzle and superciliaries light greyish brown. 

 Measurement.' of type, a not quite adult female, head and body 150 mm., ear 20, 



