NO. 4 HOPLOMYS (THICK-SPINED RATS) HANDLEY 9 



prominent conical posterodorsal projection ; nasals short, narrow, 

 and posteriorly acute ; dorsal spines long and strong ; soft hairs of 

 dorsum giving reddish-orange mass effect, slightly darkened on 

 shoulders. 



Specimens examined. — Colombia: Barbacoas, Narifio [75 ft.], 

 8 AMNH ; Buenavista, Narifio [1,200 ft], 1 AMNH ; La Guayacana, 

 Narifio, 800 ft., 2 US. Ecuador: Mindo, Rio Blanco [4,000 ft.], 

 1 AMNH ; San Javier, 60 ft., 7 (1 AMNH, 6 US). 



Additional published records. — Ecuador: Cachabi, 560 ft. (Thomas, 

 op. cit., p. 551). 



HOPLOMYS GYMNURUS TRUEI J. A. Allen 



1896. Echimys semispinosus Alfaro (not Tomes, i860, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lon- 

 don, p. 265), Primera Exposition Centroamericana de Guatemala, Museo 

 Nacional, San Jose, p. 41 (Suerre, Costa Rica). 



1908. Hoplomys truei J. A. Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 24, p. 650 

 (Savala, Matagalpa Prov., Nicaragua). 



Characters. — Size medium ; skull of medium width and ridged ; 

 brain case domed and slightly depressed ; foramen magnum ventrally 

 oriented ; cheek teeth large ; auditory bullae large ; zygomata con- 

 verging less anteriorly than in goethalsi, and maxillary root in plane 

 of ventral surface of skull ; jugal without hooklike posteroventral 

 process ; nasals long, narrow, and posteriorly acute ; dorsal spines 

 relatively short and weak; soft hairs of dorsum giving uniform dark 

 orange mass effect. 



Specimens examined. — Nicaragua : Lavala [ = Savala, 800 ft., along 

 the inner border of the low east coast region], 2 AMNH ; Rio Coco 

 [800 ft.], 2 AMNH ; Vijagua [ = Bijagua, probably 1,500 to 2,000 ft., 

 on eastern slope of highlands in Matagalpa Prov.], 3 AMNH. Costa 

 Rica: Santa Teresa Peralta [3,100 ft.], 1 AMNH; Suerre, 1,500 ft. 

 [near Jimenez], 1 AMNH. 



Additional published records. — Tate (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 

 vol. 68, p. 401, 1935) supposed that True's record (Proc. U. S. Nat. 

 Mus., vol. 11, p. 467, 1889) of Echinomys semispinosus in Nicaragua 

 was the first published reference to a Hoplomys. The specimens, 

 still in the U. S. National Museum, however, are Proechimys. 



HOPLOMYS GYMNURUS WETMOREI subsp. nov. 



Holotypc. — U.S.N.M. No. 307057 ; adult male, skin and skull ; 

 collected March 1, 1958, by Alexander Wetmore ; Isla Escudo de 

 Veraguas, Prov. Bocas del Toro, Panama; original No. 1479. 



