4 D. M. A. Bute — Rodent Remains from Crete. 



(2) Cole, G. A. J. & Crook, T. " On Eock-specimens dredged from the 

 Floor of the Atlantic off the Coast of Ireland " : Mem. Geol. Surv. Ireland. 



(3) Weroeke, L. van. " Ueber den Nephelinsyenit der Serra de Monchique " : 

 N.T., 1880, ii. 



(4) Brogger, W. C. " Die Eruptivgesteine des Kristianiagebiets," 1898. 



(5) UssiNG, N. V. " Mineralogisk petrografiske TJndersogelser of Gronlandske 

 Nefelinsyeniter " : 1 og 2 del Meddeleser om Gronland, xiv, Kjobenhavn, 1894. 



(6) Washington, H. S. " Petrographic Province of Essex Co., Mass." : 

 Journ. Geol. Chicago, 1899. 



Sears, J. H. " On Occurrence of Augite and Nepheline Syenites, Essex 

 Co." : Bull. Essex Inst., 1893, xxv. 



(7) HoRNE, J. & TEAiiL, J. J. H. " On Borolanite " : Trans. Roy. Soc. 

 Edinburgh, vol. xxxvii, pt. i, 1892. 



II. — On A New Species of Mouse and other Rodent Remains 



FROM Crete. 

 By Dorothea M. A. Bate. 



ON looking over a small collection of rodent remains from the 

 Pleistocene cave-deposits of Crete, Mr. Oldfield Thomas drew 

 my attention to one specimen which appeared to be of special interest. 

 It consists of an imperfect right mandibular ramus still in the matrix, 

 and which contains the base of the incisor in a fragmentary condition, 

 and the first and second molars in a perfect state of preservation. 

 The third molar is missing. This specimen was obtained from a cave- 

 deposit on the south side of the little bay of Sphinari ^ on the west 

 coast of Crete. The deposit is almost totally destroyed and is still 

 partially submerged ; a few fragmentary remains of an ungulate were 

 also observed and appeared to be those of the Cretan deer Ariaglochis 

 creteiisis of Simonelli, wliich occurs in so many of the cave-deposits of 

 the island. 



It is always unfortunate when a new form is represented by one or 

 two fragments, as in this case, for the scanty material available makes 

 it impossible to speak with certainty of its closest affinities. The 

 molars under discussion are typically murine in pattern and must have 

 been those of a mouse of very large proportions, one which, so far as 

 I am aware, has no equal in size in the Mediterranean region, It is 

 therefore proposed that it should be known as ^his catreus, it being- 

 understood that the generic name is here used in its older and wider 

 sense. The fact of an innominate bone of large size and presumably 

 belonging to this species having been obtained from another cave- 

 breccia in the island lends additional weight to the belief that it 

 is not the remains of an individual ' sport ' that are being dealt with-, 

 but that these more probably represent another instance of a giant 

 form occurring among the smaller mammalian fauna of an island. 



The two molars in the Cretan specimen are high-crowned and not 

 very broad. They are not in an advanced stage of wear ; the triturating 

 surfaces of the parallel tubercles of both teeth have been worn to 

 a common level, but the two anterior laminae of the first tooth are 

 barely connected to form the square cross of the typical Murine m.-. 



^ "Pleistocene Mammalia in Crete": Geol. Mag., n.s., Dec. V, Vol. II, 

 p. 197, May, 1905. 



