512 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII. 



that there is little change in the forms westward from the Euphrates until the 

 Jordan basin is reached. Wagner's description is too vague by itself to indi- 

 cate more than a large Tatera. He, however, gives the following dimensions, 

 vis. : — Head and body (measured along curves on a stuffed specimen) 8"-9'" 

 (=230 mm.), tail 7"-3"' (= 190 mm.) ; hind foot l"-8'" (42 mm.). 

 The average dimensions of the above-named two specimens are- 

 Head and body 187 mm. ; tail 190 ; hind foot 42 ; ear 29. 

 Skull : greatest length 47 ; basilar length 37 ; zygomatic breadth 26 ; 

 length of upper molar series 7 ; bullae 12'5. 

 These specimens may, I think, be confidently accepted as representing typical 



taniura. 



(29) Tatera per 'ss'ca, sp. n. 



6. 1. 2. 5-6, Seistan. (Seistan Arbitration Commission.) 

 A large Tatera, as large as or even larger than either tcmiura or inclica. 

 The whole upper surface of a uniform pale sandy colour, with no apparent 

 black grizzling, though a certain proportion of the hairs on the back are 

 black-tipped ; an area above the eyes and the cheeks paler, giving the impres- 

 sion of a darker band from the snout over the crown between the ears ; the 

 dark band aboye and below the tail showing more admixture of black than 

 the dorsal area, the terminal black " tuft " about one-fourth of the total 

 length of the tail. The skull strong and broad, and the upper-incisors very 

 stout and broad. Unfortunately the dimensions were not recorded by the 



collectors, but I give the following as probably correct :— 



Skull. 



Type.— 6. 1. 2. 5 

 6. 1.2.6 

 Hah. — Seistan. 

 Type. — B. M. No. 6. 1. 2. 5. An adult. Collected in September 1905. 



(30) Tatera persica scansa, subsp. n. 

 4# 6. 1. 3.— Kerman, Persia (Sylces). Alt. 5,700.' 



Rather smaller than typical persica. Ground-colour much as in that species, 

 but a very marked black grizzling on the posterior dorsal area above the root 

 of the tail ; the dark bands of the tail are also much darker than in persica. 

 and the terminal ''tuft" occupies about one-third of tail-length. The skull 

 is broad as in persica, but neither it nor the molars are so stout. The emar- 

 gination of the anterior border of the infraorbital plate, which in persica is 

 represented by at most a shallow arc, is in this specimen so deep that the 

 emargination becomes distinctly " C "-shaped. That this character is constant 

 I am not, however, in a position to affirm. 

 The following are the dimensions : — 



Head and body 180 mm. ; tail 193 ; hind foot 39 ; ear 26. 



Skull : Greatest length 45 ; basilar length 35 ; zygomatic breadth 25 : 



upper molar series 6 ; bullae 12'5. 

 Hob. — Kerman, Persia, 



