1897.] 



MAMMALS TEOM MOKOCCO. 



955 



4. Eeixaceus algiefs, Duv. & Lereb. 



Erinaceus algirus, Duvernoy & Lereboullet, Mem. Soc. Strasb. 

 iii. 1840, fasc. 2, p. 4 ; Anderson, P. Z. S. 1895, p. 419. 



2 specimens, 6 2 • Scbaf el Kab and Eas el Ain, Haha. 



The white forehead and underparts usually characteristic of 

 this species cannot be taken as constant. The specimen from 

 Schaf el Kab has the dirty drab-brown colouring genera.lly found 

 in E. europceus. The size and colour of the claws will always 

 distinguish these species outwardly : in E. algirus the claws are 

 narrower and pale horn -coloured in the dry skin, while in 

 E. europceus they are stronger and black. There is no appreciable 

 difference in the texture of the hair of the underparts, and cer- 

 tainly nothing to account for the stress laid by Duvernoy on the 

 softness of the fur in the type specimen. The skulls of these two 

 species are very readily distinguished. Viewed from above that of 



Fig. 1. 



Skull of Erinaceus algirus (top view). 1^ nat. size. 



E. alqirus (fig. 1) has much broader nasals, and the sagittal crest for 

 attachment of the muscles extends on to the frontals to fully half 

 their length in the middle line, while in E. europceus this ridge is 

 confined to the parietals. Viewed from beneath, the palatal 



63* 



