38 ALLEN — A COLOMBIAN SHREW Fv^MTCIl' 



of feet thinly clot hcd with minute brown and whitish hairs, the former more 

 prominent on the external side. 



In the type a patch of new, nearly black, hair is coming in on the rump, 

 and another on the shoulders, which probably indicates that in freshly 

 assumed pelage the general coloration is much darker than here described. 



Skull. — The occipital portion is broken. Compared with the skull of 

 ('. nelsoni, however, the rostrum is heavier and much longer; it is nearly 

 parallel-sided in dorsal view from the level of the premolar to the braincase, 

 but tlic interptcrygoid fossa is not as broad. The three anterior incisors are 

 together about equal in length to the entire four of C. nelsoni, and, as in the 

 latter, the three unicuspids practically lack all trace of the postero-internal 

 cusps, which, however, are present in C. nigrescens. In C. nelsoni the last 

 upper incisor is in contact with the large premolar, so that the minute canine 

 is not visible from the exterior, but in the new species the canine is fully 

 visible in the space between the last incisor and the premolar. The latter 

 tooth is considerably reduced, and is actually smaller than in C. nelsoni, 

 which in turn is exceeded by C. nigrescens) its internal outline is evenly 

 convex, and, as in the latter species, the inner cusp is wanting. The molars 

 are practically identical in size and form with those of C. nelsoni. All the 

 teeth, however, differ noticeably in being much less pigmented. Of the 

 large anterior incisor the tip only of the main cusp is chestnut, while of the 

 succeeding teeth the tips only of the first two unicuspids and the edges of 

 the cusps of the molariform teeth are pigmented. This, however, is a char- 

 acter probably subject to slight variation. 



Measurements. — The skin as made up by the collector is about 90 mm. 

 long to the end of the tail vertebrae (which are left in); the tail, 19; hind 

 foot with claw, 14. Skull: from anterior incisor to frontal foramina, 12 mm.; 

 anterior incisor to posterior end of pterygoids, 13.5; length of upper tooth 

 row, 9.5; lower tooth row, 8.3; greatest width across molars, 6. 



The small body, short tail, large feet, large heavy skull and the 

 lack of the accessory cusp on the premolar and the three pos- 

 terior incisors are the salient characters of this new shrew. 

 Goldman has previously recorded the discovery of a member of 

 the Cryptotis mexicana group in eastern Panama, thereby carry- 

 ing the known distribution of these smaller shrews nearly to the 

 Colombian border. The present interesting record extends the 

 known range of the nigricans-nelsoni group from southern 

 Mexico and Costa Rica to the highlands of Colombia, and 

 makes another important addition to the many discoveries of 

 those ardent naturalists, the Brothers Niceforo and Apolinar 

 Maria. 



