FRE NEW RODENTS FROM BRITISH EAST AFRICA 



By EDMUND HELLER 

 Field Naturalist, Smithsonian Akrican Expeuition 



(With Two Plates) 



Five Murine rodents collected by members of the Smithsonian 

 African Expedition in British East Africa during October and No- 

 vember, 1909, appear to be new to science. This paper, in which 

 they are described, is the fourth dealing with the results of the 

 expedition. 



PELOMYS ROOSEVELTI, new species 



Plate i, a, Skull, Natural Size 



Type from the Nzoia River, Guas Ngishu plateau, British East 

 Africa: adult male, number 162881, U. S. Nat. Mus. ; collected by 

 Edmund Heller, November 16, 1909; original number, 1231. 



Coloration. — Above bright tawny golden, heavily lined with black; 

 hairs annulated black and tawny, with a mixture of much longer 

 black hairs which possess a strong olive iridescence similar to the 

 color of a golden mole. Sides more tawny, with a slight mixture 

 of grayish, but the color of the sides well defined against the white 

 of the belly. Underparts white, faintly tinged with cream-buff, the 

 hairs white nearly to the base, where they become grayish for a short 

 distance. Limbs tawny above, whitish below. Tail sharply bicolor, 

 dusky black above, below tawny yellow. Ears thinly haired with 

 tawny yellow. 



Mcasitrcineiifs. — Head and body, 170: tail, 153; hind foot, 36; 

 ear, 19. Skull: condylobasal length. 34.2: basilar length, 30; zygo- 

 matic breadth, 18.5; nasal, 14; interorbital constriction, 5; diastema, 

 9: mandible, 21.4; maxillary toothrow, 8.5. 



Compared to P. fallax this is a longer-tailed species. In coloration 

 it is more yellowish, the back with a marked olive iridescence, the 

 sides with sharp line of demarcation. Annulation of tail less dis- 

 tinct, the tail clothed with short, stiff' hair. Grooving of upper inci- 

 sors wide, the grooves wide and close to the outer edge. Palatal 

 foramina large and extending well behind the anterior border of 

 the first upper molar : interorbital beads low and flat. 



