1916.] Hollister, Shrews Collected by the Congo Expedition. 667 



with lighter grayish; crown and face slightly darker, more blackish brown; underfur 

 rather light slate gray. Hands and feet brownish buff, the feet darker along outer 

 half from heel to toe. Tail uniformly dull blackish brown except near base below 

 where there are a few lighter buffy hairs. Underparts mouse gray, uniformly colored 

 from chin to tail except for an irregular wash of cinnamon buff. Side glands incon- 

 spicuous, about the color of the surrounding hair. No definite line of demarcation 

 between color of upperparts and of belly, the two shades blending over the sides of 

 the body. 



Other specimens differ much in color from the type. A Januar}^ skin from Medje 

 matches the type most closely; an April skin is in very bleached pelage, with irregu- 

 lar patches of rusty red on the upperparts. Two other skins from Medje, June 

 and September, are quite dark, more as in a very uniformly colored series of maurisca 

 from the Victoria Nyanza region. These last two are, however, rather immature 

 animals, with the basal suture still open. 



Skull and teeth.- — ■ Skull larger than in maurisca, about the size of that of the closely 

 related C. littoralis Heller from Butiaba, but slightly more robust in build and with 

 wider maxillary processes, rostrum, and palate. Teeth essentially as in littoralis and 

 maurisca, the unicuspids oval from crown view, with wide cingula and small cusps; 

 last upper premolar, in unworn condition, longer than wide. 



Measurements of type. — Total length, 159; tail vertebrae, 65; hind foot, 18 (dry, 

 without claws, 16.6). Skull: Greatest length, 23.4; condylo-incisive length, 23.3, 

 condylo-basal length, 22.6; greatest breadth, 10.2; maxillary breadth, 7.1; mandible, 

 12.1; upper tooth row, entire, 10.4; front of pm i to back of m 2 , 5.3; lower tooth row, 

 entire, 9.4. 



This new species is based on five specimens, four from Medje and one 

 from Avakubi. It is closely related to maurisca and littoralis but may be 

 separated from either by the lighter color, greater maxillary breadth, and 

 more robust teeth. The three forms, maurisca, littoralis, and oritis, proba- 

 bly form an intergrading chain of subspecies. They are readily distin- 

 guished from Crocidura niobe Thomas by the larger hind foot and the 

 narrower unicuspid teeth. 



9. Crocidura latona sp. now 



(Plate VII, Fig. 3; VIII, Figs. 3, 3a.) 



Type, No. 48610, Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., skin and skull of adult & (basal suture 

 closed; teeth moderately worn) collected at Medje, Belgian Congo, March 17, 1910, 

 by Herbert Lang and James P. Chapin. Orig. No. 773. 



Related to Crocidura niobe Thomas, but much more brownish (not gray) in color, 

 and with underparts scarcely lighter in color than back. Size about as in niobe. 

 Tail thinly haired and with long bristles only at base. Fur of back short. 



Color. — Type: Upperparts rich, glossy bister, the nose darker; underfur nar- 

 rowly brownish gray at base. Underparts only slightly lighter brown than the back 

 and sides; lateral glands russet. Hands and feet buffy brown, very thinly haired 



