Flying -Squirrel from Borneo. 215 



vivid colour as Petaurista melanotis *, but smaller, and 

 differing from it in details of coloration and in its cranial and 

 dental characters. 



1 would propose to name it 



Petaurista Thomasi, sp. n. 



Size rather smaller than in P. melanotis. Colour nearly of 

 the vivid rufous characteristic of that animal, but rather 

 deeper and richer. This rich colour in P. Thomasi is abso- 

 lutely uniform over the whole animal, the face, ears, feet, and 

 tail-tip, all more or less black in P. melanotis, being- here also 

 rufous. Under surface paler, the middle line of the belly and 

 the parachute rather darker than the flanks. Fur of back 

 softer and more woolly than in P. nifida, paler basally than 

 terminally, not black-tipped. Ears comparatively very small, 

 not tufted, thinly clothed with pale rufous hairs. Posterior 

 half of sole hairy ; sole-pads narrower and more sharply 

 defined than in the larger species. 



Skull, as compared with that of P. melanotis, much smaller, 

 with the zygomata more evenly and widely expanded ante- 

 riorly. Nasals more uniform in breadth, the posterior more 

 than half the anterior bieadth; behind, they reach beyond 

 the premaxillary processes. Interorbital region narrow, tlat, 

 not concave as in P. melanotis. Bulls comparatively small. 

 Teeth much smaller and lighter than in the larger species, 

 the breadth of ^.* only 3"37 millim. 



Dimensions of the type (an adult female, measured in 

 skin) : — 



Head and body 350 millim. ; tail 340 ; liin.l foot (dry) 60; 

 ear (dry) (c.) 19. 



Skull: greatest length 61; basilar length 51; zygomatic 

 breadth 41 ; nasals 16'5 X 10'5 ; interorbital breadth l-^-5 ; 

 tip to tip of postorbital processes 33 ; palate length 28*8 ; 

 diastema (to p^) 13"7,- length of upper molar series (ex- 

 cluding p.^) 14'2. 



Hah. Silat River, about 70 miles south of Claudetown, 

 Eastern Sarawak. 



Type. Female. B.M. no. 99. 12. 9. 32. Presented by 

 myself. Obtained by native collector in February 1897. 



As it is of the same general appearance and colour, I have 

 thought it better to compare this species with P. melanotis in 

 the description ; but it is, I believe, more closely allied to 



* It remains to be proved whether P. melanotis is or is not synony- 

 mous with the Javan P. nitida. For the moment I use the name 

 P. melanotis as representing the Bornean form of the group. 



