KUNGL. SV. VET. AKADPMIENS HANDLINGAR. BAND 48, N:0 5, 183 
places, making big holes which we had to avoid with our mules. Similar things 
were observed at other opportunities as well, but I could not obtain any specimens. 
Mr. Kier sent me, however, later a broken and somewhat weather worn skull 
which enables me to give some morphological notes about this animal. 
Distance from anterior margin of foramen magnum to tip of nasal (premaxillary missing). . . . 177 mm. 
Distance from anterior margin of foramen magnum to posterior margin of palatina ..... . 64 » 
MERE MY COMGUE OTERO) PN 1e Pah soe! Sle fhe hse ee sl ew ak tile Ss gmara hela 75 » 
beast width behind postorbital processes . ivi < Midi stls wipe he ifs (slel als & allejh + le «fede 43 >» 
‘Width, goroas tips of postorbital, processed ; «x 1+) sees ls yt ete e ee wh be ee me 61 » 
Tein CC COLES. G0AR SR Ces ge che oe ei es 6 8 8 8 et ee ee 8 57,5 » 
COTES OTERO UOTE To ig RE ay ye ERE oR SE ye ne eo 61 
PRESSOR MBAMED Cited © tushemis. -ikcst shel sf Al@ sos les 8 6 8 el ke 8 8 17» 
The general shape of this skull differs in several respects from the same of 
Orycteropus ethiopicus SUNDEVALL. The skull from British East Africa has the anterior 
two thirds of the frontals and the posterior portion of the nasals strongly inflated so 
that their lateral parts bulge up rather high above their median portion. A deep con- 
cavity is thus formed mesially on the forehead, while the forehead of O. wthiopicus is 
almost flat, evenly rounded off at the sides. In O. afer there is a slight tendency to 
inflation on the sides, and a median concavity, but by far not so pronounced as in the 
present specimen. The frontal region is, probably in connection with this, somewhat 
longer in the present specimen than in the two other species mentioned The length of 
sutura frontalis is in this specimen 61, but in subequal skulls of O. e@thiopicus and afer 
resp. about 54 and 52 mm.; on the other hand it will appear that the nasals of the 
two latter were correspondingly somewhat larger. The bulging of the frontals as 
mentioned above stands, of course, in connection with an increase of the nasal cavity. 
In consequence of this the vertical height of the skull from the palatal surface between 
the last two teeth, and to a place in the middle of the frontal bone measures 52,3 
mm. in the present specimen, but only 49 mm. in O. ethiopicus. O. afer again is 
nearly equal to the present race. Another result of the same thing is that the fore- 
head of the present specimen becomes much broader than in the two other species 
the interorbital breadth measuring 57,5 mm., while the same dimension in O. afer 
is 53,5 and in O. ethiopicus only about 50 mm. 
The tear-duct is in the present species as well as in both the others pierced 
near the zygomatic suture, but the jugale overlaps the lacrymale so that the foramen 
is not so near the lower border of the tear-bone as it appears to be at a superficial 
examination. 
The postorbital processes are well developed and curved downwards. 
The width of the snout at the maxillary-premaxillary suture is about 30 mm. 
in the present specimen as well as in O. afer, but only 27 mm. in O. ethiopicus. 
The latter has thus a much slenderer snout which is also more suddenly narrowed 
than in the two others. 
In O. afer and O. ethiopicus the parietale is almost flat, and its profile-contour 
is only very little, if at all, curved, but in the present specimen the contour line of 
