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SOMALILAND 
Mrs. Phillips’ Spiny Mouse (Acomys loidsm). 
Hawaina Plain. 
‘ General colour grayish fawn ; fur scarcely spinous, quite different from 
that of its allies ; under surface and limbs pure white. Head and body 
65 ; tail 79 ; hind-foot 16“1 ; ear — Thomas. 
The Ash-coloured Spiny Mouse {Acomys dnerascens). 
‘ Above blue ash-gray, also the outer sides of the feet ; nose, chin, whole 
under side and inner side of feet pure white ; colours of upper and under 
parts sharply defined.’ — Eeide. 
Head and body (c.) 85 ; tail 70. 
Field Rat {A rvicanthis variegatus). 
West Somaliland. 
‘ Coarsely grizzled black, brown, and yellow, faint black stripes down centre 
of back ; belly rather lighter and more thinly haired ; tail dark above, 
paler beneath.’ 
Head and body (c.) 150 ; tail 140. 
‘ Very variable in proportion of tail and size.’ 
Tree Mouse {Deiidromys mesomelas). 
‘ This little beast lives in reeds.’ 
‘ Reddish chestnut-brown on the upper part of the body, with a black stripe 
along the centre of the back ; lower parts white ; upper incisors grooved.’ 
Head and body (c.) 90 ; tail (c.) 70. 
The Naked Sand Rat {Heterocephalus glaher). 
Found nearly all over Somaliland where there is soft soil. One caught at 
Sassabanah by Hr. Donaldson Smith. 
‘ Their runs are a foot underground, and at frequent intervals they make 
holes to the exterior, through which you may see the earth being kicked 
up in little jets, that cause one to look on in astonishment if one does not 
know the origin of these little volcanoes.’ — Smith, 
Size of common mouse ; almost naked skin ; very small eye, and no external 
ears. Colour dirty yellow. 
Phillips’ Naked Sand Rat {Heteroce/pJudus phillipsi). 
Discovered by Mr. E. Lort Phillips. 
A size smaller than the above. ' 
The Pectinator {Pedinator spekei). 
Collected at Leliello. 
This animal was first discovered in Somaliland by Captain Speke. I found 
it living in large families among the rocks in the desert of Guban and just 
south of the Gulis Range, in the same manner as the hyraces. Some were 
to be seen basking upon large boulders, and when disturbed they ran into 
holes underneath the rocks. 
Colour dark-gray ; fur thick and soft ; the tail, which is very short, is con- 
tinually twitched up and down ; skin so tender that I pulled the tail off 
when skinning it. Length from tip of nose to end of tail 1 foot. 
