AND AFFINITIES OF POTAMOGALB. 15 



POTAMOGALE, Du ChaiUu. 



„ ,, . 3-3 0-0 3-3 3-3 „„ 

 T'^^th^^.g^g.c.^Q,;,.— ,™._ = 36. 



Superior — first incisors laniariform ; second and thu-d incisors and first and second premolars 

 triangular, compressed, with sharp anterior and posterior edges ; third premolar pyramidal ; true 

 molars prismatic : inferior — first incisor very small, chisel-shaped ; second large and laniariform ; 

 third small, conical ; first, second, and third premolars triangular, compressed, sharp-edged ; true 

 molars prismatic. Muzzle broad, appressed. External ears well developed. Eyes very small. 

 Nostrils valvular. Limbs of moderate length, plantigrade, pentadactyle. Second and third toes of 

 hind feet syndactyle for the length of the first phalanx. Tail large, compressed ; its distal portion 

 covered with short, stiff, closely appressed hairs, while the hair covering the proximal portion re- 

 sembles that upon the body. Body clothed with soft, rather coarse, hair, which projects from a 

 dense covering of very fine, short, silky hairs. Anal glands two. Anus, vulva, urethra, and ducts of 

 anal glands opening into a postanal chamber. Zygomatic arches absent. Clavicles absent. Radius 

 and ulna separate. Tibia and fibula adnate. 



From the description now given, it will probably be conceded that Potamogale is 

 more nearly allied to Solenodon than to any other known genus of Insectivora. The 

 absence of zygomatic arches, small eyes, well-developed ears, and large tail are all sc 

 many points of direct affinity. On the other hand, the remarkably compressed, 

 triangular teeth, the compressed form of the tail, the broad appressed muzzle, the 

 presence of anal glands, the coalescence of tibia and fibula, and, above all, the absence 

 of claivicles are points of marked divergence from the West-Indian genus. 



On the whole I am of opinion that the genus Potamogale ought to be assumed 

 as the type of a distinct family of Insectivora, to which the name of Potamogalidce may 

 be given. 



The above paper had been already printed when I became acquainted with a descrip- 

 tion of Potamogale velox, contained in a communication presented to the Zoological 

 Society on the 25th of April, 1865, by Professor J. V. Barboza du Bocage, " On certain 

 rare and little-known Mammifers from Western Africa, preserved in the Lisbon 

 Museum,"* as well as with another and more extended memoir, on the same animal, 

 read by Professor Barboza du Bocage at a meeting of the Lisbon Academy, on the 27th 

 of April, 1865. 



The specimen from which the Lisbon Professor's description had been drawn up was 

 sufficiently well preserved to enable him to recognize the true insectivorous relations of 

 the animal, and to give a detailed account of its external characters and osteology. He 

 will not, however, accept the generic name of either Du Chaillu or Gray, but constructs 



* See Proc. Zool. Soc, 186.5, p. 401. 



