GYMNURA ALBA. 19 



NOTE IV. 

 ON GYMNURA ALBA GIEBEL 



Dr. P. A, JENTINK. 



May 1S95. 



Mammals living in the tropics generally are greenish or 

 blackish colored or have a lively reddish or red tinge; 

 white mammals are great exceptions , nay there are only 

 a few examples known, for instance the Madagascar Pro- 

 pithecus sericeus , the South American Diclidurus albus, the 

 males of the Moluccan Cuscus orientalis. A highly inte- 

 resting example of the kind is Gymnura alba known only 

 from Borneo. It seems to be a rather rare animal like 

 the other eldest known species of this genus, Gymnura 

 JRafflesii ') from Malacca and Sumatra. 



G. alba (Zeitschrift fur die gesammten Naturwissen- 

 schaften, 1863, p. 277, T. 1, 2) is known from the nor- 

 thern parts of the island as well as from the southern, 

 from British north Borneo and from Banjermassing : in 

 Büttikofer's collections is a specimen from Smitau, Central 

 Borneo. 



A superficial resemblance may have lead to the idea 

 that this animal represents the albino-form of G.Raffiesii, 

 it should however strike everyone that in no part of the 

 large island of Borneo ever a dark specimen has been dis- 



1) It would be more correct to write Gymmira gymnura (Raffles), as Raffles 

 called the by him described typical specimen, Viverra gymnura. 



X^otes from the Lieyden Museum, "Vol. XVII. 



