

588 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. |. [Vor. XXXVI. 
March 5, 1902) has given us a most important contribution to the 
knowledge of these animals, principally based on the material (some 
800 specimens) collected by Messrs. Nelson and Goldman in Mexico. 
The genus Heteromys takes the place of our common Perognathus 
in the warmer parts of Mexico and in Central America, but comes 
north (as Dr. Merriam’s paper shows) into the states of Chihuahua 
and Sonora, and to Brownsville, Texas. However, these more 
northern animals, along with a number of others, represent a type so 
far departing from typical Heteromys that Dr. Merriam segregates 
them under a new generic name, Liomys. The type of the new 
genus is Ziomys alleni, —the Heteromys alleni of Coues, 1881. 
Taking Heteromys and Liomys together, and considering only the 
fauna of America north of Panama, no species were known previous 
to 1868, when Gray described four. In 1874 Peters described one, 
in 1881 Coues one, in 1893 Thomas published four, and two were 
made known by Allen and Chapman in 1897. Thus, in all, twelve 
were known; and to these Dr. Merriam now adds twenty! 
T. DAs C 
Osteology of the Flamingoes. — Dr. R. W. Shufeldt ! describes the 
skeleton of the flamingo (Phenicopterus ruber) with special reference 
to the relations of the flamingoes to the Anseres (ducks, geese, swans) 
on the one hand, and to the Herodiones (ibises, herons, storks) on 
the other. The author compares minutely the flamingo skeleton, 
bone by bone, with the skeletons of representatives of the other 
groups. On the whole, the flamingo skeleton presents a mixture 
of anserine and ibidine characters, together with certain characters 
which are distinctly peculiar to itself. For the most part there is no 
marked predominance of either anserine or ibidine features. In 
furcula, coracoid, and wing skeleton, the anserine characters are in 
excess. The tarso-metatarsus resembles most closely that of an ibis. 
e author concludes that, so far as the skeleton is concerned, 
the flamingoes should constitute an independent group or suborder 
(Odontoglossz, corresponding to Huxley’s Amphimorphz) standing 
between the anserine and pelargo-ibidine forms. Hw*Ek 
Regeneration in H: ym viridis. — Hydra viridis has been made 
the TOT. of a series of regenerating and grafting experiments by 
1 Shufeldt, R . W. Osteology of the none Annals of the Carnegie 
Museum, vol. i (gos). pp. 295-324, Pls. IX-XIV 

