184 EINAR LONNBERG, MAMMALS COLLECTED BY THE SWEDISH ZOOLOGICAL EXPEDITION ETC. 
the parietale forms a very distinct curve so that the posterior portion of the bone 
slopes quite conspicuously towards the occipitale. The parietal is also narrower in 
its posterior portion than in the other two species so that its least width behind (a 
little in front of sutwra lambdoidea) is only 40 mm. while the same dimension is 48,3 
mm. in O. ethiopicus, and 49 mm. in O. afer. 
The number of teeth is, of course, of less importance in an Orycteropus as the 
variability in this respect is rather great. The present specimen has 6 teeth in the 
upper and resp. 6, and 5 teeth in the lower jaw. 
With regard to the shape of the lower jaw this skull is most similar to O. afer, 
because the processus coronoideus of O. ethiopicus is much higher. 
On the whole this skull from Brit. East Africa shows more affinity with 
the South African O. afer than with the Abyssinian O. ethiopicus, but it differs con- 
spicuously from both and represents without doubt a separate subspecies. 
Matscu1E has described a race named by him O. wertheri from Bagamoyo 
hinterland, but the skull of that race does not appear to be known yet as MaTscHiE 
had stated in a letter to the present author. 
In the year 1908 LypEKKER named (conf. |. ce. above) »the Somali ant-bear» 
»0. a. somalicus», No description of this animal was, however, given. The only 
communications about it are that it is »rather smaller but closely allied» to the Abys- 
sinian race, viz. O. ewthiopicus, and that »the basal diameter of a skull in the British 
Museum is »7°/s inches», It is evidently quite impossible to identify a species on 
such a scanty communication, and it had been better not to give any name when 
no diagnose was added.’ As a matter of fact the present specimen from British 
East Africa is more allied to the southern O. afer than to O. e@thiopicus and not 
smaller than the latter, but from a zoogeographical point of view it could be expec- 
ted that the same race occurred in Brit. East Africa as in Somaliland. Therefore I 
took the liberty of writing to my friend Mr. LyprKKeER and asked for further com- 
munication about his »0. a. somalicus»>. He then kindly replied: »As regards the 
Somali ant-bear I find that the anterior portion of the frontals and the base of the 
nasals is distinctly convex, with a hollow median line between the convexities>. 
This indicates thus a resemblance in shape of skulls between the present specimen 
and the Somali race, and I was therefore inclined to use the name O. a. somalicus. 
Later, however, LyppKKER added in another letter the information that the type 
skull of his O. a. somalicus has a »minimum postorbital breadth» of 54 mm. and 
this proves that the specimen from Nairobi cannot be referred to 0. a. .somalicus 
as its minimum postorbital breadth is only 43 mm. In this respect the difference 
between the present specimen and »O. a. somalicus» is even greater than that between 
the former and O. afer in which I have found this measurement to be about 47 mm. 
1 Drake-BrockMAN when writing about »the Mammals of Somaliland» has not accepted LypEKKER’s name 
but called the »Antbear» of that country O. wthiopicus Sunp.» 
