203 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



March 28, 1865.— John Gould, Esq.,r.R.S., in the Chair. 



Notice of an apparently Undescribed Species of Ameri- 

 can Porcupine. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., F.L.S., etc. 



There has been in the British Museum since 1853 a small specimen 

 of a short-tailed American Porcupine, which was sent from Columbia. 

 I suspected that the animal might be young ; and I have been wait- 

 ing, expecting that we might receive another specimen from the 

 same source, which would enable me to give a more complete account 

 of the animal ; but as no additional materials have come to hand, I 

 shall now proceed to give a short notice of it, in the hope of draw- 

 ing the attention of collectors to the animal. 



Erethizon (Echinoprocta) rufescens. 



Pale brown, varied with black ; head white, speckled with black 

 and pale brown ; tail and feet black ; chin, throat, and beneath pale 

 brown. A short white streak on the centre of the nose, and a few 

 white spines, forming a slight crest, on the nape ; a whitish mark on 

 the side of the cheek. The bristly spines of the head thin, white, 

 with a small black subterminal band and yellow tip ; the spines of 

 the back elongate, white, with a black subterminal ring and elon- 

 gated rufous tips ; those of the front part of the back and sides very 

 slender, bristle-like, gradually becoming thickened, stronger, and 

 shorter, until on the hinder part of the back, above the tail, they are 

 well developed, short, thick. Spines with black ends and very small 

 brown tips. The end of the nose, chin, and underside of the body 

 covered with uniform pale brown slender bristles. The tail and 

 feet covered with short black bristles. Whiskers black, slender, 

 flexible. 



Hab. Columbia. 



There are a few spines on the top of the head, with one white to 

 the tip, making a kind of occipital crest ; but I am not sure that 

 this may not be an individual peculiarity. 



The soles of the hind feet are bald to the heel. Cutting-teeth 

 yellow, slender, rounder in front. Unfortunately I have not been 

 able to see the skull. 



If this is a true Erethizon, the genus may be divided into two 

 sections : — 



1. Erethizon. The back covered with elongated bristles and 

 short spines. E. dorsatus and E. epixanthus. 



2. Echinoprocta. The back covered with one kind of elongated 

 slender spines, which become shorter, thicker, and more rigid over 

 the rump. E. rufescens. 



Notice of a Species of Tupaia from Borneo, in the 

 Collection of the British Museum. By Dr. John 

 Edward Gray, F.R.S., F.L.S., etc. 



There has been in the British Museum for some years a specimen 



