DIAGNOSES OF NEW EAST AFRICAN MAMMALS, 
INCLUDING A NEW GENUS OF MURIDA. 
BY WILFRED H. OSGOOD, 
ASSISTANT CURATOR OF MAMMALOGY AND ORNITHOLOGY. 
The following brief descriptions are published in advance of a 
detailed report, now in preparation, on the Field Museum’s expedi- 
tion to British East Africa in 1905-6. Through the courtesy of the 
officials of the British Museum, especially Mr. Oldfield Thomas, it has 
been possible to make direct comparisons with types and authenticated 
specimens of previously described species. The liberality of Mr. 
Thomas, himself at work on East African collections, in freely 
advising as well as in giving access to material, is most gratefully 
acknowledged. 
Procavia mackinderi zelotes subsp. nov. 
Type from between Naivasha and Kijabe, British East Africa. 
No. 17475, Field Museum of Natural History. Adult male (stage 
VIII). Collected January 27, 1906, by C. E. Akeley. 
Characters. Similar to Procavia mackinderi but smaller; pelage 
shorter and harsher; subterminal zone of color on hairs of shoulders 
and back narrower and darker. Similar to Procavia jackson in color 
but widely different in cranial characters; skull shorter and broader 
throughout; nasals shorter; temporal fosse more extended posteri- 
orly; molariform teeth much larger and more hypsodont. 
Measurements. Average of 6 adults from Kijabe, measured in the 
flesh by E. Heller: Total length 470 (420-530); ear 32.6 (30.5-38); 
hind foot (c. u.) 63.5 (60-68). Skull of type: Basal length 89.5; 
basilar length 78; zygomatic breadth 53.2; nasals 22.5 x 23.4; 
breadth between extremities of postorbital processes 38.8; dias- 
tema 8.4; maxillary toothrow (crowns) 40; greatest width of m! 7, 
of m2 8.4. 
Remarks. Procavia slatint Sassi is evidently closely allied to P. 
mackinderit and the present form but no specimens representing it 
have been available for comparison. Since another form of the 
same group is known from the region intervening between the type 
locality of slatint and that of zelotes, it seems safe to assume that 
the two forms are well differentiated. 
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