708 On ^thosciums vexillarius and 2^. bjatti, 



References. 



Gardneu, J. S. 1886. A Monograph of the British Eocene Flora. 



Vol. ii., Gymnospermse. ^ 



Groom, P. 1*;*09. Trees and their Life Histories. London. 

 IIekr, O. 1868. " Die Fossile Flora der Polarlander." Flora Fossilis 



Arctioa, i. 

 SiSMONUA, E. 1859. ^* Prodrome d'une Flora Tertiare de Piemont." 



Mem. R, Accad. Sci. Turin, ser. ii. torn, xviii. pp. 519-549. 



LXXXI. — ^thosciurus vexillarius and ^. byatti. 

 By P. S. Kershaw. 



(Published hy permission of the Trustees of the British Museum.) 



Having had occasion recently to refer to the skulls of the 

 above two species, the descriptions of which are to be found 

 in this Journal (ser. 9, vol. xi. pp. 591 & 592, May 1923), 

 I discovered that I iiad assioned them to the wrong genus, 

 which should have been ud^thosciurus, not Funisciurus. 



Both species are members of the lucifer-ruwenzorii group. 

 From the brilliant lucifer they are at once distinguished by 

 colour ; from ruwenzorii and r. vulcanius by the absence of 

 tlie broad median white streak on the underparts. The colour 

 of the under surface from chest to tail of vexillarius and 

 hyatti is singularly like that of lucifei\ in spite of the great 

 difference in the coloration elsewhere. 



The skull of vexillarius resembles that of lucifer, but is 

 much flatter and broader — tip to tip of postorbital processes 

 25 mm. instead of 23, — while the nasals are flatter at the tip. 

 The skull of hyatti is narrower than either, as in ruioenzorii, 

 but with quite different nasals to those of the latter, being- 

 very much longer and flatter, and, instead of being narrow at 

 the posterior end and gradually widening to the tips, they are 

 of the same breadth till quit© near the tips. The palatal 

 foramina of both byatti and vexillarius are narrow, as in 

 lucifer, not broadening out posteriorly, as in ruwenzorii. The 

 teeth, too, ure large, as in lucifer. 



The affinities of both species are with luc>fer. They have 

 little in common with ruwenzorii, except size. 



