RICE RATS 251 



Characters. — "Size large. Fur very thick, coarse and wooly. 

 General colour above bright fulvous, brighter than in any other Cen- 

 tral-American species; anterior half of the body, including the head, 

 rather paler and duller than the posterior half. Ears decidedly small, 

 broadly rounded, thinly hairy, their hairs practically the same colour 

 as those of the head in general, so that they are not distinguishable by 

 colour at a distance. Lips, chin, throat and inguinal region whitish, 

 belly with a strong suffusion of fawn, which reaches a maximum on 

 the breast between the forelegs, passage of upper colour into lower 

 quite gradual. Outer sides of limbs like back, inner sides whitish; 

 upper surfaces of hands and feet thinly clothed with pale silvery-fawn 

 hairs. Tail long, thinly haired, the scales not hidden by the hairs; 

 above blackish, below yellowish, darkening towards the tip." 



Cra7iial characters. — " Skull readily distinguishable from all allied 

 species by its great breadth, the bold expansion of the zygomata, and 

 especially by the evenly incurved outline of the supraorbital edges ; in 

 all other species these edges form two approximately straight lines 

 diverging from the narrowest interorbital point, but in O . fulgens the 

 whole inner wall of the orbit forms one even curve, the breadth at the 

 posterior end of the olfactory chamber being scarcely greater than at 

 the anterior end. Nasals broad and flattened. Frontal premaxillary 

 processes very narrow and barely attaining to the same level as the 

 back of the nasals. Anterior palatine foramina large, widely open, 

 their posterior margin just level with the front of m^." 



Remarks. — In the absence of an authentic specimen of this species 

 I have been obliged to quote Thomas' original description as above. 

 Since it was written, several species have been discovered which share 

 part of the characters mentioned. 



Measure?ne?zts. — Type specimen (male adult) measured from the 

 skin by Thomas : head and body i6o mm. ; tail 151 ; hind foot 37.5 ; 

 ear from notch 13.3. 



ORYZOMYS CRINITUS sp. nov. 



Type. — from Tlalpam, Federal District, Mexico. No. 501 82 $ 

 ad. U. S. National Museum, Biological Survey Coll. Nov. 30, 1892. 

 E. W. Nelson and E. A. Goldman. Original number 3905. 



Characters. — Size large, pelage long, full and soft; hind feet long 

 and large ; tail bicolor ; ears rather short. 



Color. — Upperparts buffy fulvous, most intense on rump ; back 

 copiously lined with and obscured by black hairs ; underparts buffy 

 (except on chin, throat, and forelegs, which are whitish) ; tail dusky 

 above, yellowish below. 



