1898.] or THE FAMILY ANOMALUEID.I;. 451 



bling Idiurus, but difEering from both the above-named genera iu 

 not having any supraorbital processes of the frontal bones. 



AETHUEtrs GLJEiNUS, sp. nov. (Plates XXXIV. & XXXV.) 



The general appearance of the animal suggests a large Grciphiurus 

 with bushy black tail ; or it may be compared to a small grey 

 Anomalurus without flying-membranes. The fur is soft and dense ; 

 the entire upper surface of the body, head, and outer surface of the 

 legs, and the base of the tail ash-grey ; the lower surface and inner 

 side of the legs lighter, or more silvery ; the whole of the fur is 

 plumbeous slate-coloured except the extreme tips, which are 

 silvery. The colour is moi-e pure dark grey than in any Grapliiurus, 

 there being almost an entire absence of drab in the colouriug, and 

 the fur agrees with Anomalurus and not with GrapJiiurus. The 

 whiskers are strong and abundant, deep shining black, the longer 

 hairs reaching to the shoulders ; there are about five similar though 

 shorter hairs standing out from the ej'ebrows. The tail, for a 

 distance of about 30 millimetres from the base, is clothed above 

 and below with soft fur like the body ; on the lower side, beyond 

 this, there is a pad of large scales exactly similar to those found in 

 Anomalurus, about 35 millimetres in extent, composed of 13 scales. 

 On the upper side of the tail, for nearly the same distance as that 

 occupied by these large scales, only a few scattered hairs appear, 

 barely hiding the rather coarse ordinary scales, but as the hair 

 thickens the scaling becomes finer, and before the spot above the 

 end of the lower scale-pad is reached the tail is covered with loug 

 black hair ; from this point the tail is bushy, distichous, and 

 squirrel-like, all the hairs shining black, and attaining the length 

 of 45 millimetres or more tow ai'ds the extremity. 



In the present specimen the tail has been split and sewn up. 

 There is a bare patch about the middle on one surface, probably 

 caused by some former injury necessitating the splitting of the tail 

 in the removal of the vertebrae, so that it may be only individual. 



The ears are naked and dull black in the dry skin. Both the 

 fore and hind feet are sparingly clothed with shining adpressed 

 hairs ; there are no coai'se curved hairs at the base of the claws as 

 in Anomahirus. On the outer side and in front of the ankles there 

 are glandular swellings furnished with short, stiff, fusiform hairs 

 (Plate XXXV. figs. 1(.)-12) about 5 millimetres in length, curving 

 downwards at the points, forming peculiar black frills or anklets. 

 The palms, soles, and claws are pale in colour, the last-named not 

 nearly so powerful as those of Anomalurus, especially those of the 

 fore feet. The fore feet (Plate XXXV. fig. 8) are very slender, 

 the fingers very long, and in their proportions one to another are 

 unlike those of either of the allied genera ; the thumb is entirely 

 wanting, the 2nd and 5th fingers are subequal, shorter than the 

 3rd, the 4th being the longest. The hind feet (Plate XXXV. 

 fig. 9) are more like those of Anomalurus; the hallux is, however, 

 shorter, the end of the claw only reaching to the joint of the first 

 and second phalanges of the second toe. 



