BOIUBID^i— SPBRMOPniLUS ANNULATU8. 



887 



curved. The pelage is coarser, much harsher and stifl'er even than in Spcr- 

 mophUus gram'n".rus, and the liairs are, in like manner, conspicuously groovc-d 

 above. The tranwyerse burring of the tail di.slinguishcH tliis species among 

 all the American Sciuridte. 



This species was first described by Audul)on and JJachman, in 1842, in 

 the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Piiiladelpliiu. These 

 authors republished tlieir description, with a figure, in tiieir Quadrupeds of 

 North America, in 1851. The single specimen that served as the basis for 

 their description and figure was presented to them by Professor Haird, respect- 

 ing whicli tiiese authors say: — "The specimen we have described was obtained 

 on the western prairies; the locality was not particularly stated It was 

 politely presented to us i)y Mr. Spencer F. Baird, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania."* 

 In republishing this account nine years later, they add, after the word prairies, 

 "we believe on the east of the Mississippi River".t Professor Baird, in 

 alluding to this species in 1857, says: — "The animal described under this 

 name \8permophilus annulatuii] by Audubon and Bachman was purchased by 

 me from a dealer many years ago and prc8ente<l to Mr. Audubon. It was 

 supposed to have been brought from the west, and, as such, was described 

 by the above authors. I have, however, little doubt that it is an African 

 species of Sciurus, and, in fact, it resembles closely, if it be not identical with, 

 the Sciurus rufobrachiatus of Fraser, in Zoologia Typica, said by him to be 

 closely related to the Sciurus annulatus of Western Africa. In any event, 

 it must be eliminated from the list of North American Spermophile8."t 



Andrew Murray, in 1866, referred this species to Sciurus rvfohrachiatum 

 of Waterhouse, and speaks of it as follows : — "Dr. Baird says tiiat Audubon 

 and Bachman had been deceived in the locality of the species which they 

 described under this mine [Spernwphilus annulatus'], supposing it to have 

 been an American Spermophile, while, in fact, it was a West African 

 Squirrel." § 



Here, at last, it is positively asserted to be a West African species, and 

 is referred to the genus Sciurus. It is, however, not only a true Spermophile, 

 but proves to be beyond question an inhabitant of the Plains of Western 

 Mexico. The original type of the species appears to have been lost. From 

 Audubon and Bachman's very careful description and figure of it, there can 



\i 



m 



vMm 



* Jonrn. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. vol. viii, p. ilX 

 t Quad. N. Amer. vol. il, p. 815. 



t Mum. N. Amor. p. 327. 

 i Oeof;. Distr. Mam. p. 354. 



