222 Mr. 0. Thomas on African Rodents. 



years placed in Tatera, form so natural and distinct a section 

 that they might well he recognized as a special genus, which 

 I would propose to call 



TATERILLUS, gen. nov. 



External characters as in Tatera, but the soles with a 

 band of fine hairs passing across them opposite the base of 

 the hallux. 



Skull with the posterior palatal foramina much longer 

 than in other Gerbils, commencing, as a rule, opposite the 

 anterior edge of m l and reaching back to the middle of to 2 . 

 Bullae comparatively small. 



Incisors narrow, deeply grooved, strongly bevelled, much 

 more so than in Tatera. 



Type. Taterillus emini (Gerbillus emini, Thos.). 



Other species : T. gracilis, Thos., harringtoni, Thos., and 

 lacustris, Thos. & Wrought. 



In some respects — in its rather more murine skull and 

 smaller bulla? — Taterillus shows an approach towards the 

 smaller Gerbils such as Dipoddlus and Gerbillus, [is partially 

 hairy soles perhaps being also an indication of its connexion 

 with the last-named genus. 



II. The Species o/Lophiomys. 



In working out some examples of Lophiomys from British 

 East Africa, obtained during the recent Rudd expedition, I 

 find that there are two species in that country, and in formu- 

 lating their characters I have had occasion to go over all 

 the described forms, with results which are here briefly 

 noticed. 



The first member of this remarkable genus to be described, 

 L. imhausi, M.-Edw., was founded on a specimen purchased 

 alive at Aden, a place to which Somali animals are very 

 commonly brought for sale. The two specimens from Somali 

 in the British Museum, practically topotypes of L. smithi, 

 lihoads, agree so closely in all respects with Milne- Edwards's 

 description that I have no doubt that L. smithi should be 

 regarded as a synonym of L. imhausi. 



The various Abyssinian specimens that have been sent 

 home, chiefly by the Italians, should probably be referred to 

 L, o3thiopicus, Peters, but if that is yet another species the 

 name L. bozasi is available for the Abyssinian form. No 

 detailed description is available of the type of L. cetluopicus, 

 which was obtained near Kassala. 



