Vol. 50 1907 



Smithsonian 

 Miscellaneous Collections 



Vol IV Quarterly issue Part 2 



NOTES ON A SMALL COLLECTION OF MAMMALS 

 FROM THE PROVINCE OF KAN-SU, CHINA 



By MARCUS WARD LYON, Jr. 

 Assistant Curator, Division of Mammals, U. S. National Museum 



Mr. W. W. Simpson, of Taocheo, province of Kan-su, north- 

 western China, has recently sent to the U. S. National Museum a 

 small but interesting' collection of mammals, and among; them are 

 two new species. The general region of northwestern China had 

 previously been entirely unrepresented, so far as mammals are con- 

 cerned, in the Museum collection. In addition to the specimens 

 listed below, a very young spotted fawn of a rather large deer was 

 collected. 



Mr. Simpson also sent to the Museum a photograph from a 

 freshly killed specimen of what is apparently the rare goat antelope 

 Nemorrhcedus argyrochcetus (Heude), shot by Mr. W. N. Ruhl in 

 the fall of 1906. Unfortunately no part of the animal was saved. 

 This photograph is reproduced on plate xvi. 



PETAURISTA XANTHOTIS (Milne Edwards) 



1868-1874. P[teromys] xanthotis Milne Edwards, Recherches Mammi- 

 feres, p. 301. 



The skin and skull of a large flying-squirrel may be referred to 

 this species. Milne Edwards considered his tentative Pteromys 

 xanthotis as identical with his P. melanopterus. The animal sent 

 by Mr. Simpson, however, differs from the description of P. melan- 

 opterus in almost precisely the same manner that P. xanthotis is said 

 to differ. The skull of the present specimen is much larger and 

 heavier than Milne Edwards' natural size illustrations (Recherches 

 Mammiferes, pi. 15a, fig. 2) of P. melanopterus. I cannot believe 



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