Dormice of the Genus Eliomys. 495 



Type. Old male. B.M. no. 0. 7. 1. 47. Original number 

 277. Collected and presented by R. I. Pocock and Oldfield 

 Tliomas, 



Deceived by its close similarity in coloration to E. quer- 

 cinus, 1 have hitherto assigned the Balearic " Rata sarda " to 

 that species ; but closer study of the group shows not only 

 that it is distinct, but inclin-s me to think that it is allied 

 ratlier to the southern forms of the group — Aniori, sarduft, 

 paliidus, and cincticauda, — all of ^yhich differ from it by 

 having a black ring round the tail. 



Eliomys lerotinus tiinetcpy subsp. n. 



A small Eliomys with the tail almost wholly black (except 

 the extreme tip) ; ears of normal size. 



Size about as in the typical form. General colour above 

 dull fulvous, about as in E. quercinus. Cheeks and under 

 surface uniform cream-colour, almost " cream-butF/' not 

 sharply defined laterally. Facial markings about as in the 

 type, the lines on the whole narrower than in E. quercinus. 

 Ears of normal size, not enlarged as in melanurus. Hands 

 and feet creamy white. Tail ratlier short, bushy terminal ly, 

 not distinctly distichous, its basal fourtli above grey, heavily 

 grizzled with black, the remainder deep black above and 

 below, except that the hairs of the extreme tip are white or 

 ringed with white. In the typical E. lerotinus there is much 

 more white on the tail, whose basal third below is dull 

 whitish, middle third black largely mixed with white, and 

 terminal third pure white. 



Skull and teeth as usual in this group ; the palatal fora- 

 mina rather longer and the bullfe larger than in true lerotinus. 



Approximate dimensions of the type (measured in skin) : — 



Head and body 120 millim. ; tail 83 ; hind foot (s. u.) 24. 



Skull : tip of nasals to back of parietal suture 31 j length 

 of upper molar series 5. 



llab. (of type). Karouana, Tunis. Two specimens in the 

 Lataste Collection from Bone, N.E. Algeria, near the Tunisian 

 frontier. 



Type. Adult female. B.M. no. 46. 11. 4. 1. Collected 

 by Louis Eraser. 



This dormouse had been long supposed to be Wagner's 

 E. melanurus, but the recent acquisition of two specimens of 

 that most distinct species from Sinai has enabled me to 

 correct the mistake. 



Lataste's ^^ Bifa lerotina^'' is unquestionably an Eliomys 

 which has lost its posterior molars. The genus will therefore 



