Neotropical .Alolossiis, Conopatus!, (Cv. '),S7 



Skull, ill correlation with its smaller size, imich more 

 lig'litly built than in ox^Ww^vy Nectomys ; supraorbital ridges 

 little developed, the brain-case broad, smooth, and rounded. 

 Zygomata widely and evenly spread. Nasals not markedly 

 narrowed behind. Palatal foramina much larger than in any 

 other species, narrowed in front, widely open and rounded 

 behind, where they extend to the level of the front edge 



of ""'^ 



m 



Molars much worn in the type, but apparently with the 

 complicated structure of those of true Nectotnj/Sj with which 

 their shape and general proportions agree. 



Dimensions of the type (measured in the tlesh) : — 



Head and body 125 mm.; tail 11-) j hind foot, s. u. 20, 

 c. u. 28 ; ear 13. 



Skull: greatest length 30; basilar length 23"4; zygo- 

 matic breadth 17 ; nasals 11-2 x3*2 ; interorbital breadth 4"8; 

 breadth of brain-case 13 ; palate length 12"8 ; diastema 7'(j ; 

 palatal foramina 5' 7 x 2'3 ; length of upper molar series 4"-l. 



Uab. Escondido River, 7 miles below Rama, Nicaragua. 



lype. Old male. B.M. no. 5. 3. 4. 2. Collected 5tli 

 November, 1904, by Mr. W. G. Palmer. 



This remarkable species, not half the bulk of any hitherto 

 known member of the true glossy-furred Nectomys^ is the 

 first of the group found in Central America. Allen's Siymo- 

 dontoniys Alfari and the closely allied Nectomys russulus of 

 Colombia are forms with more Oryzomys-Vike fur; but their 

 exact generic position is not at present easy to define, owing 

 to want of specimens with unworn teeth. Although the same 

 difficulty exists with the type of iV. diinidi'atus, its general 

 characters are so much like those of typical Nectomys that I 

 have no hesitation in assigning it to that genus, of which it 

 forms the most diminutive member, 



" Caught in banana-plantation, on very wet red clay," 



P roechimys Goeldii, sp. n. 



Size about as in the ordinary Para species, P. on'gj Tlios.* 

 Colour of type a dull greyish brown, darker and more rufous 

 on back, greyer and lighter on head and sides. But this 

 colour is probably not that natural to the animal (which is 

 presumably some shade of rufous), but is due to the action 

 of the preservative in which the specimen has been kept. 

 Under surface dull white, not sharply defined laterally. 

 Spines of back feeble, barely exceeding half a millimetre in 

 breadth, about 17-18 mm. in length, with a long slender 



* Anjj. & ^h^t^ Xat. Hist. (^7) xiv. p. 105 (1904). 



■><i* 



