142 Mr. O. Thomas on 
X.—On some interesting Hedgehogs from the Persian Gulf. 
By OLprietp THomas. 
(Published by permission of the Trustees of the British Museum.) 
AMONG some mammals obtained for the Cox-Cheesman 
collection by Mr. V. 8. La Personne, and referred to me for 
determination, are four hedgehogs—three white and one 
black—from the little island of Tanb, in the north of the 
Persian Gulf. Remarkable to say, these hedgehogs, in spite 
of the small size of the island, belong to two different species, 
each representative of a different group of the genus Para- 
echinus. This genus tends to divide into two—the species 
with long pteryg roid region, comparatively small bullee, and 
little swollen pterygoids, and those with short pterygoid 
region, large bulla, and much swollen pterygoids,—the two 
groups being sufficiently distinct for their respective members 
to be able to live in company with one another. But it is 
impossible to divide them as subgenera, for certain species 
are so absolutely intermediate that one cannot say to which 
group they belong—notably P. mcropus, the genotype of 
Paraechinus. rom P, micropus one is led by imperceptible 
steps, in the one direction, through amir and blanfordi, into 
the ‘ Macroechinus ” forms, and in the other into the most 
marked large-bullee species. 
Of the species with small bulla, the black Tanb hedgehog 
seems referable to the South and Hast Arabian P. niger, but 
is separable as a small island subspecies of it :— 
Paraechinus niger seniculus, subsp. n. 
General characters of true niger, but size rather smaller, 
although the feet are nearly as long. Head not black as in 
niger, but nearly wholly grizzled iren-grey, black and whitish 
hairs being uniformly mixed all over it, neither colour forming 
any special pattern or markings. Chin whitish, the rest of 
the under surface black. Ears large, their substance blackish, 
their hairs white. 
Skull as in niger, but smaller, with smaller teeth and 
decidedly smaller bulle. P* present, well developed, though 
crowded, triangular. 
Dimensions :— 
Head and body 192 mm.; tail 18; hind foot 34; 
ear 41, 
Skull: condylo-basal length 45°7; zygomatic breadth 26 ; 
