On a new Central- American Porcupine. 1G9 



trapped by me during the months of February and March, 

 1902, the bng brown hah* on the rump and between the 

 scapulars is abraded, leaving only the dark grey fur belou'. 



" This vole occurs also at Ciiinkiano- (according to Mr. de 

 La Touche), where, during the floods of the summer of 1901, 

 it was flooded out of its burrows and invaded the settlement. 



" In the event of the vole proving a new species, which, 

 from what ]\lessrs. IStyan and La Touche tell me, seems not 

 impossible, might I suggest that some specific name be given 

 to it which would imply its apparent inseparability from the 

 reeds among which it is invariably found?" 



XXVL — Diagnosis of a new Central- American Porcupine. 

 By Oldfield Thomas. 



Coendou RotkscJiildi, sp. n. 



A spinous short-haired species related to the C. quichuay 

 Thos., of Ecuador, and widely different from the long- 

 liaired Central- American C. mexicanus. Distinguished from 

 C. quichua by being profusely speckled with white, the 

 spines of the back all white-tipped. Skull rather larger 

 than in that animal, more inflated ab ive the orbits, and with 

 a larger nasal opening (breadth 17 millim.). Anterior cheek- 

 tooth (;/) scarcely or not larger than the molars. 



Dimensions of the type :— 



Head and body 410 millim. ; tail 330 ; hind foot, s. u. 60, 

 c. u. 68. 



Skull: basilar length 71; length of upper cheek-tooth 

 series 173. 



Hah. Sevilla Island, off Chiriqui, Panama. Coll. J. H. 

 Batty. 



This interesting porcupine, of which further details will be 

 given later, represents the C bicolor-quichua group, hitherto 

 not recorded north of Ecuador. It has no near relationship 

 to the thickly furry C. mexicanus, the only species hitherto 

 recorded from Central America. 



