466 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XXII, 



Type, No. 26635, an ld adult, Hainan, September, 1902. 



Size very small; skull like that of M. aurita in general contour, but with long, 

 pointed nasals and short postpalatal fossa. 



Color of scales in adult uniform dark brown, in the young adults darker, 

 blackish brown; ventral surface flesh-color, slightly clothed with very short, 

 fine, light-colored bristly hair; nails yellowish white. 



Rows of scales on median dorsal line in three specimens: head (type), 9, 

 10, ii ; body (type), 21, 21, 19; tail (type), 18, 19, 15; total on median line 

 (type), 48, 50,45. 



Total length (type), 670; head and body, 420; tail, 250; hind foot without 

 claws, 56; longest fore claw, 21 ; longest hind claw. 43 mm. 



f* Skull. The general contour of the skull is nearly as in M. aurita, except 

 that the rostral portion is as in M. pentadactyla, while the nasals are nearly as 

 in M . javanica much extended posteriorly and gradually narrowing to a point, 

 instead of being short and more or less abruptly truncated on the posterior 

 border. The orbit in the oldest specimen is closed by the malar bone. Below, 

 the conspicuous feature of difference is the shortness of the postpalatal fossa, 

 which is only .17 of the length of the skull, instead of .22 to .24 as in M. auriia 

 and M. javamca, and .21 in M. pentadactyla. The pterygoids terminate oppo- 

 site the middle of the audital bullae, instead of opposite their posterior border 

 as in M. aurita. The ascending arm of the intermaxillary terminates just 

 behind the emargination of the nasals. 



The principal measurements of the type skull are as follows: Total length, 

 82; basal length, 76; greatest width of braincase, 57; least interorbital breadth, 

 2 7 ; length of intermaxillaries on palatal border, 7 ; length of maxillaries (palatal 

 surface) on median line, 27; length of palatines (on median line), 20; length of 

 pterygoids, 13; length of postpalatal fossa, 14; greatest length of frontals, 33; 

 greatest length of parietals, 25 ; length of malar, 6; length of nasals, 30.5 ; great- 

 est width of nasals (at fronto-maxillary suture), 12; least width of nasals 

 (midway between frontals and intermaxillaries) , 8 mm. 



It has been generally customary since Anderson's revision of the 

 group in iSyS, 1 to recognize only three species of the genus Manis in 

 the Oriental "Region, M. pentadactyla, M. aurita, and M. javanica, with 

 neither of which has the present species from Hainan any very 

 close relationship. In size, coloration, number of rows of scales, 

 and number of scales on the median line of the back, it is nearest to 

 M. aurita, from which it differs mainly in considerably smaller 

 size, and in important cranial characters, as especially in the 

 form of the nasal bones and postpalatal fossa. In M. aurita 

 the nasals are short, abruptly truncated posteriorly, and of 

 nearly uniform width throughout; in M. pusilla they are 

 relatively much longer, widest at the fronto-maxillary suture, 

 from which point they taper evenly posteriorly and termi- 

 nate in a point; in front of the fronto-maxillary suture they 



1 Zool. and Anatom. Researches, Yunnan Expedition, 1878, pp. 341-353, pi. xxiv. 



