62 EINAR LONNBERG, MAMMALS COLLECTED BY THE SWEDISH ZOOLOGICAL EXPEDITION ETC. 



this statement it is made probable that the specimen from Suakin belongs to the 

 same race as the type specimen of »G. hararensis^. This is the more probable as I 

 have obtained from a somewhat intermediate locality viz. Gheleb in Eritrea two 

 specimens of Genets with shaggy tail and extensive black markings on the hind legs, 

 collected by Rev. Mr. K. G. Rodbn, which have the under surface of the fore feet 

 quite black in one, and blackish in the other. Then remains the question whether 

 these specimens can be referred to G. dongolana Hempr. & Ehbenb. or if »G. hara- 

 rensisj> constitutes a constant geographic subspecies distributed along the coast districts 

 of the Red Sea. More than a subspecies it certainly cannot be. Matschie has un- 

 doubtedly had access to the type of G. dongolana Hempr. & Ehrenb., and it must 

 therefore be assumed that this type has »Sohlen der Vorderfiisse nur wenig dunkler 

 als deren Oberseite». The question is then whether this characteristic is constant or 

 not. That the degree of darkness is variable is already proved by the two Genets 

 from Gheleb, Eritrea as mentioned above. It is still more proved by two Genets 

 of this group caught by this Expedition in the dry thornbush country north of Guaso 

 Nyiri below Chanler Falls. They were trapped from the same camp resp. 'Vs and 

 '"/a 1911, and both are adult males. In one of these the under side of the fore feet 

 is quite black on the outer side becoming gradually blackish grey and lighter grey 

 towards the inner side and the tip of the middle finger. In the other specimen there 

 is a black stripe along the outer side of the under surface of the fore feet but the 

 hair around the pads of the finger tips are quite light. 



It appears thus probable that in one and the same race of Genet the lower 

 surface of the fore feet can be black or blackish in some specimens, and hardly 

 darker than the upper surface in some other specimens. 



According to Matschie there are also some differences with regard to the 

 pattern of the tail-marks between G. dongolana, and »G. hararensis». The former is 

 said to have 10 dark rings, and the light rings in front of the tail-tip are broader 

 than the dark ones (Matschie 1. c. p. 1140), whereas the type of ^hararensis^ has 

 8 dark rings and the light rings in front of the tail-tip narrower than the dark ones 

 (I.e. 1139). The Genet from Suakin described in the ^Zoology of 1]gypt» is said to 

 have » eight black bars alternating with broad pale areas* — — but the artist has 

 represented it on the plate with 10 black rings and the white rings broader than the 

 black. The tail on the plate is thus of true dongolana-type according to Matschie, 

 the description has too small number of black rings. 



The two Genets from Gheleb, Eritrea, have both of them 10 dark rings, al- 

 though the last in one is rather slightly developed. In one of them all light rings 

 are broader than the dark except that the second black ring from the tip is some- 

 what shorter than the light ring behind it. In the other specimen the second, third, 

 and fourth black rings from the tip are a Httle shorter or narrover than the light 

 rings behind them respectively, otherwise the light rings are broader than the dark. 



In one of the specimens from Guaso Nyiri the black rings are narrower than 

 the white except that the fourth ring from the end is somewhat narrower than the 

 white behind it. In the other specimen from the same place the second black ring 



