264 
THE MAMMALS OE EGYPT. 
Dipodillus calueus, Thomas. 
Gerbillus calurus, Thomas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 6, vol. ix. 1892, p. 76. 
Resembling G. pyramidum in size, but distinguished from all other known gerbils 
by its tail, which is clothed with long hair almost to the base, as in the Myoxidee. 
The ears are rather large. The hind feet have naked soles with six pads as in the 
more typical species of Dipodillus. The fur generally is very long and dense; on 
the back the coat is 20 mm. in length, and on the head 13 mm. General colour 
brown-fawn strongly washed with black, the base of the fur slate-coloured; the tail 
black-brown, with a tip of white hairs 20 mm. in length. The fore and hind feet 
whitish. 
Approximate measurements:—Head and body 110 mm.; tail (without hair) 140 ; 
hind foot 30; ear 18. 
1 he skull is about the same size as that of G. pyramidum, but is much fuller in the 
brain-case and the auditory bullse are more inflated and project slightly beyond the bones 
of the occiput; the meatus projects beyond the zygomatic arch, thus the broadest part 
of the skull is found at this point. The palatal surface in the two skulls is very much 
alike, but in the true Gerbil the folds or indentations of enamel of the teeth are 
more varied. 
Ihe only specimen in the British Museum (No. 0.5.9.1) known with certainty to be 
Egyptian was collected by Mr. D. MacAlister at Wadi Sikait, south of Gebel 
Sebara, Eastern Egypt. The skull of this specimen is too imperfect to allow accurate 
measurements to be given. 
The type of the species, badly preserved in alcohol, is of doubtful origin and 
may have come from either Sinai or Egypt. These two examples, with another 
specimen in poor condition from Sinai, likewise in spirit, are the only representatives 
of the species in the British Museum, and, I believe, the only three specimens 
known.—W. E. de W. 
