148 My. 0. Thomas on a new Species o/'Meriones. 



Meriones To'istrami^ sp. n. 



Size ratlicr small, about equal to that of M. meridianus, 

 Pall. Ears rather long and narrow, laid forward thej reacli 

 beyond the middle of the eye. Fur long and soft. Colour 

 above dull fulvous, grizzled with black, the general tone not 

 tinlike that of 31. SItaioi. Underside, hands, and feet wiiite. 

 Palms quite naked, granulated, with three small distal and 

 two large proximal pads. Soles mainly hairy, but with a 

 naked stvijje running from the heel forwards to just past the 

 tarso-metatarsal joint ; distal part of sole cushioned, granu- 

 lated, very thinly haired, with four minute pads at the bases 

 of the digits and a rudiment of a fifth posterior internal pad 

 just distinguishable. Tail grizzled yellow and brown above, 

 with a small black terminal crest and pencil on its distal 

 inch ; uniformly yellow or white below. 



Skull, for a Meriones, slender, narrow, and delicate, but 

 little flattened and broadened across the parietal region. 

 Bulla? very small for the genus, the neck of the auditory tube 

 not dilated anteriorly towards the zygoma, as is the case in 

 M. meridianus and other allied species. 



Incisors slightly bevelled, each with a single groove. 

 Molars of the most Meriones-Wkt character, i. e. hypsodont, 

 withlozenge-sha[)ed lamina^connected with each other through- 

 out. 



Dimensions of the type (an adult male in spirit) : — 



Head and body 121 niillim., tail 153, hind foot (without 

 claw) 32, ear (above crown) IG. 



Skull : greatest length (approximate) 37 ; length from 

 bregma (junction of frontals with parietals) to nasal tip 2.3"5 ; 

 zygomatic breadth 18'8 ; nasals, length 1-1"7, breadth 3*0 ; 

 inlcrorbital breadth G"l ; breadth across combined fronto- 

 ])arietal sutures 12"5; (interparietal, length 5 ■^, breadth 7*8*) ; 

 length of ante-zygomatic plate 5*2 ; diastema 9 9 ; palatine 

 foramina 6"8 ; bulla (greatest diameter 12-2*), greatest 

 diameter of tympanic portion 12"0, greatest breadth from lip 

 of meatus at right angles to last measurement 8*7. Length 

 of u])])er molar series 5*5. 



A second specimen, a female, has the head and body 110, 

 tail 12G, and liind foot 29*5. 



Hah. Palestine. 



Type (B. M. (54. 8. 17. 35) from the Dead Sea; another 

 specimen from Mount Carmel. Both collected by Canon 

 11. B. Tristram. 



* The nieasuroments in brackets nve tnkeu from the sninllor foiualo 

 specimon, owinp to tlic innnTtVotion of the skull of tlio type. 



