THREE NEW MURINE RODENTS FROM AFRICA 



By N. HOLLTSTRR 



The following heretofore overlooked forms of murine rodents 

 have been found in the collections made by the Smithsonian African 

 Expedition in 1909 and 1910. 



ARVICANTHIS ABYSSINICUS CENTROSUS, subsp. nov. 



Type from Rhino Camp, Lado. No. 165 167, U. S. National Mu- 

 seum, skin and skull of male adult (teeth moderately worn), collected 

 January 2[, 1910, by J. Alden Lorini;-. ( )rig-. No. 8817. 



Subspccifjc characters. — Differs from Arvicanthis abyssinicus 

 rubescens Wroughton of Uganda in its much darker color and 

 larger teeth. 



Color of type speciineu. — General appearance of upperparts black- 

 ish gray, or blackish grizzled with grayish buff" ; hairs of back mostly 

 broadly blackish at base, with subapical area of yellowish buff, and 

 tip of black ; mixed with these are numerous hairs wholly black in 

 color. Rump and lower back slightly more reddish brown than head, 

 shoulders, and forward parts of back ; sides lighter than back, the 

 undercolor paler and the buff rings on the hairs less yellowish. 

 Underparts dark grizzly drab, all the hairs blackish at bases and with 

 drab-gray tips. Ears well clothed with black and yellowish buff 

 hairs, much the color of head and upper back. The buffy ochraceous 

 nose and eye-ring are faintly marked. Hands and feet blackish 

 brown, the feet with black centers. Tail bicolor, brownish black 

 above, grayish buff' below. 



Skull and teeth. — Skull essentially as in Arzncanthis abyssinicus 

 rubescens; teeth distinctly larger. 



Measurements of type specimen. — Head and body, 129 milli- 

 meters; tail vertebrae, 114; hind foot, dry, without claws, 29. Skull: 

 Condylobasal length, 31.2; zygomatic breadth, 16.5; interorbital 

 breadth, 4.8; length of nasals, 11.7; length of mandible, 20.5 ; upper 

 tooth row, alveoli, 6.9 ; lower tooth row, alveoH, 7.0. 



Specimens examined. — Sixteen, all from the type locality. 



Remarks. — This new subspecies of Arvicanthis abyssinicus re- 

 sembles A. a. nubilans of the Kisumu Province, British East Africa, 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 66, No. 10 



