446 On a new Uioniys/row the Solomon Inlands. 



LXX. — Description of a neio Uroniys//-o>« the Solomon 

 Islands. By OldFIELD ThOMAS. 



Uromys sapientis^ sp. n. 



Size intermediate between tliat of the large U, niacropus, 

 oruensis, SiC, and the small U. cervinipes and Bruijnii 

 group. Fur close and coarse, the woolly hairs about 13 millim, 

 long on the back, the straight ones about 10-12 millim. 

 longer. General colour above uniform cinnamon-brown, 

 mixed with the blackish tips to the longer hairs. Sides 

 scarcely paler. Belly " ))inkish buff," not very sharply 

 defined laterally. Head like back, an indistinct brownish 

 ring round the eyes. Whiskers long, fine, brown. Ears 

 very short, laid forward in a spirit-specimen they barely reach 

 halfway towards the eye ; practically naked, their substance 

 grey. Outer aspect of arms and legs like sides, inner like 

 belly ; upper surface of metapodials whitish buflfy, a darker 

 patch on their outer halves ; digits practically naked. Soles 

 broad, smooth, naked, the pads broad and low ; fifth hind toe 

 without claw reaching to the middle of the second phalanx of 

 the fourth. Tail with its basal inch thickly woolly, like the 

 body, then evenly and abruptly naked ; its rings of scales 

 running eight or nine to the centimetre ; its tip smooth and 

 shining above, perhaps slightly prehensile, as in Potjonomys ; 

 its colour uniform dull brown. Mammte — 2 = 4. 



Skull broad and low, the zygomata well expanded ; nasals 

 narrow, constricted mesially ; interorbital region smooth, 

 concave, its edges sharp, and passing outwards behind the 

 well-marked postorbital projections, behind which well- 

 defined ridges run backward to the outer corners of the inter- 

 parietal. Anterior edge of zygoma-root not projected forward. 

 Palatal foramina short, as usual, ending half their own length 

 in front of m^. Palate ending behind opposite the hinder 

 end of »r. Bullse well inflated. Teeth as usual. 



Dimensions of an adult female in spirit (not the type) : — 



Head and body 250 millim.; tail 250; hind foot 51; 

 ear 17*5. 



Skull of the type : upper length 52-.'); basilar lengtli 44 ; 

 zygomatic breadth 28' 7 ; nasals J8 x 6'3 ; interorbital breadth 

 8"3 ; breadth across postorbital processes 15 ; interparietal 7'5 

 X 15; ])alate length 24 ; diastema 15 ; palatal foramina 7'3; 

 length of upper molar series 11. 



Hab. Ysabel Island, Solomon group. 



Type. Male; skin. B.M. no. 2. 5. 1. 4. Collected 



