130 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



from the Dasyprocta rubatra of Trinidad. The forehead, back, 

 flanks, chest, and belly are a mixture of blackish with small 

 tickings, which vary in color from ochraceous or buff on fore- 

 head and shoulders to orange-rufous on the lower back, 

 ochraceous-buff on the flanks and belly, and whitish on the 

 lower throat. The chin is nearly clear whitish to buffy; the 

 inner sides of the thighs are bright buff; the nape, limbs, and 

 feet are uniform brownish black, and the central part of the 

 back may vary to a darker blackish tone. The hind feet have 

 but three toes, the front feet four, with stout short claws for 

 digging. There is a short, naked, stumplike tail. Ears short 

 and rounded. Length of head and body up to 18 inches. 



It is perhaps uncertain how far the agoutis on the different 

 Leeward Islands have become differentiated into island races. 

 No comparisons have yet been made with sufficient series of 

 adults from them to be very significant. Nevertheless, as long 

 ago as 1842, J. E. Gray named as a new species an agouti 

 from St. Vincent, calling it Dasyprocta albida, on account of 

 its being "whitish grey, nearly uniform, the hair of the back 

 elongated, white at the base." This specimen must have been 

 somewhat albinistic, and probably young, for it is said to have 

 been the size of a guineapig. On this basis alone the St. 

 Vincent agouti is not distinguishable, for other specimens from 

 there prove to be of normal coloring. Nevertheless, scanty 

 material seems to indicate a smaller size as compared with D. 

 rubatra of Trinidad, with a shorter hind foot (about 95 mm. 

 instead of 110), and a smaller skull, having a shorter and 

 more sharply tapering rostrum and shorter nasals. In view of 

 these apparent differences the St. Vincent agouti may be re- 

 garded as distinct and Gray's name will apply to it. 



As to the present status of this race, for such it seems best 

 regarded, little is known. Sclater, in 1874, recorded two 

 specimens sent to the Zoological Society of London in August, 

 1868. In February, 1904, Austin H. Clark procured an adult 

 female there in the forest behind Barrouallie, where probably 

 it may still be found in small numbers. A similar dearth of 

 recent information exists in regard to the status of agoutis on 

 the other Leeward Islands. However, where large stretches of 

 forest still remain, there the animals may be expected to survive 

 until further clearing or the introduction of such predacious 

 animals as mongooses takes place. That on some of these 



