1880.] MR. O. THOMAS ON MAMMALS FROM ECUADOR. 397 



20. Nasua rufa, Desm. 



Two specimens from the Copataza river, and one from Balzar. 



21. Bassaricyon alleni, n. sp. (Plate XXXVIII.) 

 One adult female from Sarayacu. 



This is by far the most interesting animal contained in the col- 

 lection, as the genus has been hitherto known from a single skull 

 only, collected by Prof. Gabb in Costa Rica, and now in the collection 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, the skin of which has been acci- 

 dentally mislaid'. This skull Mr. J. A. Allen, in the 'Proceedings 

 of the Philadelphia Academy' for 1876, described under the name 

 of Bassariciiongabbi, and figured it most carefully ; so that, on com- 

 paring the skull of our specimen with his figures, I was at once able 

 to see that it was undoubtedly congeneric ; there were, however, so 

 many differences in detail as, combined with the difference in locality, 

 to necessitate its separation as a distinct species. I'his I take the 

 liberty of naming after the founder of the genus, to whom every 

 student of the Mammalia owes a heavy debt of gratitude for the work 

 he has done among the North-American representatives of that 

 class. 



In its external characters our specimen presents a most extraordi- 

 nary resemblance to the common Kinkajou (Cercoleptes cmuUvolvu- 

 lus) ; in fact, if the skull had not been taken out of the skin here, so 

 that no doubt could exist as to their belonging to one another, no 

 one could have believed that it was any thing but a rather small spe- 

 cimen of that animal. 



_ The body and tail are orange-grey, the hairs of the back being 

 tipped with black ; the belly is of the same colour, but lighter. The 

 face and crown are covered with short whitish hairs tipped with 

 black, the black tips being longer towards the occiput. The result- 

 ing clear grey of the face is the only distinction in colour from the 

 Kinkajou, that animal having the face coloured like the body. The 

 tail is long, covered with long woolly hairs, many of which show a 

 distinct golden lustre. From the appearance of the fur it seems ])ro- 

 bable that the tail is not prehensile (as it is in the Kinkajou). The 

 fur all over the body, like that on the tail, is rather longer and more 

 woolly than that of the Kinkajou. The mammae are two in number, 

 situated about 2| inches from the anus. 



The skull is nearly exactly the same size as that of B. gahhi, and 

 has the same general proportions ; but the following differences are 

 observable: — (1) The upper outline of the skull in B. gahhi is regu- 

 larly convex, but in B. alleni the frontal region is flattened from the 

 crown to the nasals ; thus the perpendicular height of the skull from 

 the front edge of the alveolus of tlie last molar to the frontal profile 

 (fig. 2, a to b) in B. gabbi measures 1 inch, in B. alleni only 0-9 in. 

 (2) In the side view of the skull mB. gabbi the frontal profile shows 

 distinctly above the supraorbital process and ridge, while in B. alleni 



' By an unfortunate mistake Mr. Allen was led to figure in the Proc. Phil. 

 Acad, for 1877 the skin of the Central-American Coati {Nasua nasica) as that 

 of his Bassm-ici/on gabbi ; but he has since explained the error. 



