348 MR. E. R. ALSTON ON THE GENUS DASYPROCTA. [Apr. 4, 



margined with the light colour ; feet dusky. Length about 22 in., 

 hind foot 4 2.) in. 



Hub. Central America. 



This Agouti is at once distinguished from all the others which have 

 black and yellow annulated fur, by the long hairs of tbe rump being 

 black with broad pale tips. Seven or eigbt individuals of both sexes 

 agree in all essential characters, but differ slightly in the colour of 

 the tips of the long hairs, and consequently in the general colour of 

 the rump. The exact distribution of the species is still uncertain. 

 Several living examples have been received from Colon by the 

 Society, which have hitherto been referred to D. punctata* ; and it 

 appears probable that the Agouti of Costa Rica which Dr. von 

 Frantzius calls D. cristataf will prove to be the same. 



2. D. CRISTATA. 



Cavia cristata (Geoffroy), Desmarest, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. 

 i. p. 215 (1810, descr. orig.). 



Dasyprocta cristata, Desmarest, Mamm. p. 358 ; Waterhouse, 

 Mamm. ii. p. 383 ; Wagner, Suppl. Schreb. Siiugeth. iv. p. 41. 



Dasyprocta antillensis, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1874, p. 606, pi. lxxxii 

 (descr. orig.). 



Fur very dark, ringed with black and reddish or brownish yellow, 

 nuchal tuft and rump black, the long hairs either dusky or obscurely 

 ringed at the base. Length about 18 in. ; hind foot 375 in. 



Hab. West Indies. 



The West- Indian Agouti for which Mr. Sclater proposed the pro- 

 visional name of 7). antillensis, is identical with the specimens which 

 Mr. Waterhouse identified with Desmarest's D. cristata, and seems 

 to agree perfectly with the original descriptions. The phrase pelage 

 noirdtre, piquet/' de rovx, is particularly characteristic ; and I am 

 convinced that Mr. Waterhouse wf.s correct, although the figure in 

 F. Cuvier and Geoffroy's ' Mammiferes' (iii. livr. 52) gives the idea 

 of a lighter animal. The species was founded on a pair of Agoutis in 

 the Jardin des Plantes, which were said to have been received from 

 Surinam. There can be little doubt, however, that this was an error, 

 and that the species is a strictly insular race. The Society has 

 received living specimens from St. Vincent, and St. Lucia ; and there 

 are skins from St. Thomas in the British Museum. In one example 

 from the first-named island, the hairs of the rump are obscurely 

 ringed at the base, and the nuchal crest is but little developed. 



3. D. VAR1EGATA. 



Dasyprocta variegata, Von Tschudi, Faun. Peru. p. 190, pi. xvi. 

 (1844, descr. orig.). 



Fur dusky at base, black, ringed with pale yellow only near the 

 tip, the long hairs of the nape and rump entirely black, or with a 

 narrow pure white ring near the tip. Length about 22 inches, hind 

 foot 4 inches. 



Hab. Peru, New Granada, Panama? 



* <]. Sclater, I'. Z. s. 1*71. p. 666 \ Cf. Wiegm. Arch. L869, p. 274. 



