4 MR. OLDFIELD THOMAS ON [May 6, 



1. PlPTSTEELLUS DESERTI, Sp. n. 



71. J. Mursuk. 30/5/1- 



A small buff-coloured desert ally of P. hiohli, with a particularly 

 small skull. 



Size smaller than P. huhli, but the forearm - length not so 

 much less than in that form as to be in propoi'tion with the much 

 smaller skull. General structure, of ears, wings, and dentition, 

 as in P. kuhli. Ears and tragus pale transparent buffy, little 

 darker than the general colour. Wings dark brown, the usual 

 white edging very conspicuous. Interfemoral paler brown, white 

 posteriorly. 



Colour of fur pale buffy, between cream and pinkish buff of 

 Ridg-way, strikingly different from the colour in oixlinary kuhli. 

 The hidden bases of the hairs dull slaty. Belly-hairs blackish 

 slaty basally, whitish buff terminally. 



Skull very small and delicate ; the total length, the breadth 

 across brain-case, and the length of the tooth-series, all con- 

 spicuously less than in P. kuhli., whether fi'om Europe, Morocco, 

 Tunis, or Egypt. 



Dimensions of the type : — 



Forearm 29"5 mm. 



Head and body (measured in flesh) 43 ; tail (do.) 33 ; ear (do.) 

 10; third finger, metacarpal 29, first phalanx 10, second phalanx 

 8-5 ; lower leg and hind foot (c.u.) 22. 



Skull — greatest length 11 "6, median length above 10, median 

 length below 9; interorbital breadth 4*1 ; inteitemporal breadth 

 3*1 ; breadth of brain-case 62 ; front of canine to back of d^ 

 4-3. 



Type. Adult male. Original number 71. 



Although with the general charactei'S of P. kuhli., I do not 

 feel justified in calling this Bat only a subspecies of that animal, 

 for other North- African bats of this group, while tending towards 

 P. deserti in colour, show no approach to its conspicuous reduction 

 in size of skull. Examples of P. kuhli from Morocco {Dodson), 

 Tunis [Anderson), and Egypt [Anderson), all have skulls of the 

 full normal size. 



Two names might have been thought to refer to it. Cretzschmai-'s 

 V. margiyiatus fi-om Nubia is paler in colour than usual, but 

 Dr. Anderson's specimens show that the form from there is of the 

 usual size. 



Pipistrella minuta Loche \ on the other hand, is so far smaller 

 as either to be a totally different form, or, more probably, the 

 young of some indetei-minable species. Its locality is in the 

 Algerian range of P. kuhli. 



2. Hy^xa hy^xa L. 



43. Getefa, near Sokna. 5/5/1, 



' Expl. Scicnt. Alg. p. 78 (1867). 



