1902.] MAMMALS FROM NORTHERN XYASALAXD. 119 



Type. Old female. B.M. No. 97.7.3.1. Collected by J. B. 

 Yule, and pi-esented by Alfred tSharpe, Esq., O.B. 



It has always been a matter of surprise that the Golohus of 

 the high Nyasa-Tanganyika plateau should be the same as that 

 occuri'ing in the hot lowlands opposite Zanzibar, but the markings 

 are so neaiiy identical that no one has hitherto been able to 

 separate the two forms. Now, however, that the British Museum 

 has received fi-om Mr. A. B. Percival three fine adult females of 

 the true C. j^cdliatits from Takaungu, British East Africa, with 

 their skulls, I am able to show that the two are separable, tlie 

 skull-difierences being really considerable. 



I have much pleasure in naming this fine species after my 

 friend, Mr. Alfred Sharpe, O.B., Commissioner of British Central 

 Africa, to whose interest and patriotism the National Collection 

 of Nyasan Mammals is so largely indebted. 



Golohus sharpei is the C. angolensis of Sclater (1892), and more 

 recently the C. palliatus of Pousargues, Neumann, and myself. 



Helogale varia, sp. n. 



Size rather large. Fur close and fine. General colour above 

 finely speckled yellowish or bufly grey, passing gradually below 

 into deep buffy without speckling. Posterior back of all four 

 specimens, in bleached pelage, dull yellowish or " clay-colour." 

 Head conspicuously difierent to back, clear deep gi'ey without 

 yellowish sufiVision ; a small patch on each side of the muzzle 

 running back to suiTound the eye brown or brownish rufous. 

 Ears gi'ey above, deep yellowish below. Upper surface of hands 

 and feet dark yellowish clay-colour, scarcely grizzled at all. Tail 

 coloured like back. 



Skull with the nasals broad and parallel-sided for theii' anterior 

 half, then abruptly narrowing to a point postei'ioi'ly. 



Dimensions (approximate) of the type, measured in skin : — • 

 Head and body 270 mm.; tail 162; hind foot (wet) s. u. 46; 

 ear (wet) 18. 



Skull (of the type, nasal sutures still showing) — gi'eatest 

 leng-th in middle line 53 ; zygomatic breadth 28*5 ; nasals 9x5; 

 intei'oi-bital breadth 9*1 ; breadth of brain-case above meatus 

 91 '7; palate length from gnathion 24*5; greatest diameter of 

 / 5-2. 



Ty]}e. Sub-adult. B.M. No. 2.1.6.5. Four specimens examined. 



This Helogale, of which four perfectly similai' specimens are in 

 the collection, differs from all others by the head being mucli 

 darker-coloui'ed than the back, these parts being quite concolor in 

 the other foims. Whether the much gi'eater yellowness of the 

 rump will also prove a constant character I cannot say, as in all 

 the skins the fur of this part is worn and faded. 



The recognizable forms of Helogale seem to be as follows :— 



(1) Helogale atkinsoni Thos. 



Helogale atkinsoni Thos. Ann. Mag. N. H. (6) xx. p. 377(1897). 



