KUNGL. SV. VET. AKADEMIENS HANDLINGAR. BAND 48. N:0 5. 63 



from the end is decidedly longer than the white ring behind it, the third, and fourth 

 black rings are subequal with, or a little broader than the white rings behind them, 

 otherwise the white rings are broader than the black. 



From these facts it appears evident that the relative dimensions of the black 

 and white rings are not constant in these Genets, and consequently no specific cha- 

 racteristics can be based on them. 



The type of ^0. hararensis^ is said to have »Hinterseite des Unterarms dunkel- 

 grau mit hellen Haarspitzen», while G. dongolana shall have j>Hinterseite des Unter- 

 arms fast so hell wie die Vorderseite» (Matschie 1. c. p. 1139). 



Anderson's Genet from Suakin is said to have »the outer posterior surface of 

 the fore limbs more or less black, with greyish hairs intermixed!*. 



This is exactly the case with one of the specimens from Eritrea, in the other 

 the posterior side of the fore limbs is not quite so dark. 



In one of the specimens from Guaso Nyiri the hind surface of the fore limbs 

 is darker than the front-side, although not so dark as in the paler of the Eritrea 

 specimens. In the other specimen from Guaso Nyiri there is no perceptible difference 

 in colour between the front- and hind-surface of the fore limbs. This characteristic 

 is accordingly variable as well. 



Under such circumstances it appears impossible to distinguish with certainty 

 any different geographic races of this group of Genets from North Eastern Africa 

 until much richer material has been obtained. 



It must, however, be remarked that Neumann has added still more to the 

 confusion by creating still another name* i>Oenetta guardafuensis^ for a Genet from 

 Eastern Somaliland, and as usual he has not given any description still less any 

 measurements of the animal or its skull. He has simply stated that this so called 

 species is »sehr ahnlich der Oenetta felina Thunb. vom Cap aber durch kleinere und 

 rotliche — bei jener stets schwarze — Fleckung unterschieden». This cannot be 

 called a description,' especially when the subject belongs to such difficult genus as 

 Oenetta. To judge from the locality it might be possible that this »G. guardafuensis^ 

 belongs to the same geographic race as the Genet from Guaso Nyiri if it really is a 

 separate race. If the statement of Neumann, however, that »G. guardafuensis> is 

 quite similar to 0. felina in other respects than the single characteristic mentioned, 

 is correct G. guardafuensis shoijld have the posterior surface of the fore limbs black 

 and then it would differ from the Guaso Nyiri Genet. 



The only thing Neumann has added to Matschie's notes on »(?. hararensis-K is 

 that he terms the hind surface of the fore limbs >black» (^schwarze FarbungO while 

 Matschie used the word »dunkelgrau», and that he says that this Genet possesses 

 a ^schwarzen Mittelfleck^ on the chin. Such a black spot on the chin is not present 



« Evervbodv who has worked with East African mammals has often been confronted with the difficulty 

 to guess what Neumann has meant with the numerous names he has so abundantly published, as a rule, with 

 very insufficient and unsatisfactory descriptions, hardly ever with cranial measurements. Such things are very 

 annoying and the knowledge about the fauna is certainly not promoted by such superficial proceedings. 



