﻿IRational Zoological pari? 



NOTES ON ANIMALS NOW, OR RECENTLY, LIVING IN 

 THE NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK 



By A. B. BAKER 



assistant superintendent, national zoological park 



(With One Plate) 



The following notes relate to mammals which are rare, or have 

 seldom been kept in confinement, and it is believed that the observa- 

 tions on their characteristics and habits will be of interest. 



SOLENODON PARADOXUS 



Haitian insectivore 



During the early summer of 1910, Mr. Franklin Adams, Chief 

 Clerk of the Pan American Union, made a horseback trip through 

 the Dominican Republic, accompanied by his wife. Knowing that 

 the Solenodon which inhabits that island is an animal of unusual 

 zoological interest, and very sparingly represented in collections, they 

 kept on the lookout for it, making inquiries wherever they went. 

 They were fortunate enough to secure several specimens, two of 

 which they presented alive to the National Zoological Park. One of 

 these was the subject of the portrait which is reproduced here. 



The animal was very restless when taken away from its regular 

 quarters to be photographed, and in order to secure a picture which 

 would show the characters of the head and feet, it was necessary to 

 confine it in a glass box. The position which was taken under these 

 conditions, and which is shown in the illustration, is not usual, for the 

 tail is but little flexible and is ordinarily carried stiffly, straight out 

 behind and clear of the ground, or used as a prop when the animal 

 rests on its hind feet only. 



The illustration (pi. 1, fig. 2) is reproduced as showing especially 

 well the character of the feet of this rather rare insectivore. 



LOPHIOMYS IBEANUS 



East African rodent 



A collection of animals which was received at the National Zo- 

 ological Park in December, 1909, from British East Africa, contained 

 a specimen of Lophiomys, of the species later described by Mr. Old- 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 59, No. 9 



