102 Mr. M. A. 0. Hiuton on the 



VII. — The Species of Pedetes inhabiting Angola. 

 By Martin A. C. Hinton. 



(Published by permission of the Trustees of the British Museum.) 



The existence of a jumping hare in Southern Angola has 

 long been known. Peters (P. Z. S. 1865, p. 400) referred an 

 imperfect skin, collected by Dr. Welwitsch in the district of 

 Golungo Alto, to Pedetes coffer; and later Bocage (Journ. 

 Sci. math.-pb.ys. nat. Lisboa, (2) no. v. (1890) p. 19) stated 

 that " M. de Anchieta Pa rencontree a Hum be, sur le bord du 

 Cnnene, ou elle ne doit |>as etre rare, carnotre voyageurnous 

 a envoye de cette localite* trois individus adultes." No other 

 information has been published about the Angolan springhaas, 

 and no material has reached the British Museum hitherto. 



Thanks to the kindness of Mr. E. Sanders, of the British 

 Mission at Bilie", the National Collection has been enriched 

 recently by the skins of two females, one of the skins being 

 accompanied by a fine skull. These specimens were obtained 

 at Cholinde, a place 20 miles N.E. of Bihe ; they come, 

 therefore, from a district far to the north of that which 

 yielded the material mentioned by Peters and Bocage. 



Mr. Sanders's specimens prove that the Angolan animal is 

 a close relation of P. coffer, being, with the latter, sharply 

 differentiated from the East-African surdaster by the characters 

 of the skull. But in colour it is far darker than any of the 

 subspecies of P. coffer, and the skull is of peculiarly long and 

 narrow form. It must therefore be referred to a distinct 

 species, which may be called 



Pedetes ongolw, sp. n. 



Type.— An adult female (B.M. 19. 12. 19. 1) collected at 

 Cholinde, 20 miles N.E. of Bihe, Angola, and presented to 

 the British Museum by Mr. E. Sanders. 



In size, external characters, and skull (as regards the form 

 of the anterior palatal region and the development of the 

 internal ear) closely agreeing with P. coffer, differing from 

 the latter chiefly in its darker colour, harsher fur, and longer 

 and narrower skull. 



Fur noticeably harsher than in coffer. General colour of 

 upper parts darker, between dull "tawny ochraceous" and 

 " Sudan brown," darkened on top of muzzle and head by 

 numerous black hair-tips, and dulled on the back by the 



