1892.] MR. O. THOMAS ON THE GENUS ECHINOPS. 501 



unnecessarily renamed it Echinogale), by Peters S by Mivart^, and by 

 Grandidier^; but unfortunately Dr. Jentink, in an exhaustive and 

 otherwise most useful paper on the group, deceived by the small 

 size of the type, put it dovFn* as a young specimen oi Ericulus setosus, 

 an example followed by Trouessart ^ and Dobson ^ The latter no 

 doubt overlooked the type now in the British Museum, and the two 

 former had not of course the opportunity of examining it. 



Of this type specimen the cranium, figured by Mr. Martin, was 

 unfortunately lost before the Museum of the Zoological Society was 

 transferred to the British Museum, but the skin, the lower jaw, and 

 the bones of the trunk are still preserved. These confirm in every 

 way the accuracy of Mr. Martin's description and figures. 



The Museum has now received several specimens of this group 

 collected by Mr. J. T. Last at Manumbu, S. Madagascar, which 

 clearly belong to two different species, a larger and a smaller, also 

 differing from one another by the number of their teeth. 



The former of these is clearly Ericulus setosus, and the latter is 

 by its dentition an Echinojps, a genus which I now propose to 

 reinstate, but on the description of which by Martin and Mivart I shall 

 not try to improve, except with regard to the homologies of its 

 cheek-teeth, which will be referred to later. It may, however, be 

 noted that, apart from the general size, not always easily deter- 

 minable in these animals, the two forms may be readily distinguished 

 externally by the great difference in the size of the claws, those of 

 Ericulus attaining a length in front of about 6 mm., and behind of 

 about 7 mm., while those of Echinops scarcely exceed 3 in front 

 and 4 behind, with a proportionate reduction in thickness. 



As to the species to which Mr. Last's Echinops belongs I am 

 more doubtful. Firstly, it appears to be smaller than E. telfairi, 

 and to have smaller teeth, but the difference is very slight. 

 Secondly, the type of the older known species has the spines all quite 

 black-tipped and becoming gradually paler to the roots. On the other 

 hand, Mr. Last's specimens, four in number, all have white-tipped 

 spines, the white extending over the terminal 2 or 2^ mm. of the 

 spine''. In view of the great variability of Ericulus setosus in the 

 colour of the spines, this character must be looked upon with great 

 hesitation ; but at the same time the difference in appearance is so 

 very great that I think it should be recognized by name, and I 

 propose to call Mr. Last's Echinops a new subspecies, giving it the 

 name of jE". telfairi pallescens. 



The following are the measurements of the typical skull of the 

 new form, the largest of five : — 



Basal length 34*1 ; greatest breadth (between points of maxillary 



1 MB. Ak. Berl. 1865, p. 286. * N. L. M. i. p. 140 (1879). 



2 P. Z. S. 1871, p. 73. 5 i^e jj^t. 1880, p. 178. 



3 ReT. Mag. Zool. (2) xxi. p. 338 (1869). « Mon. Insectiv. p. 70 (1882). 



' M.Grandidier {I. o.) describes as "E. mivarti" an animal which is " noiratre 

 et plus fonce que E. telfairi " ; but the latter being superficially quite black, it is 

 probable that he has mistaken the form to which the name E. telfairi belongs 

 and that his mivarti is really telfairi, and his telfairi the one now described. 



