602 REPORT OF THE HARVARD AFRICAN EXPEDITION 
Mount where he was told it was not rare, living in the forest and hiding under 
piles of rubbish. It was collected also by Bunting, presumably near Bassa, 
Liberia, in November 1910 (Thomas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, vol. 7, p. 
382, 1911). We preserved two young about a third grown, that were brought to 
us at Banga and Paiata, in October. 
Lophuromys sikapusi (Temminck). Red-bellied Mouse 
Mus sikapusi Temminck, Esquisses Zool. sur la Cote de Guiné, p. 160, 1853: Dabacrom, Gold 
Coast. 
About the size and proportions of a meadow mouse (Microtus); total length 197 mm., tail 69, 
foot 23; above olive brown, the hairs orange buff at base, this color showing through on the sides 
and grading into clear ochraceous with a tinge of pink on the lower surfaces; tail dark all around, 
backs of feet dull ochraceous. Sierra Leone to Cameroons and Congo. 
This short-tailed rat is easily distinguished by its proportions and the pecu- 
liar orange buff of the lower side. We secured specimens at Gbanga and Paiata, 
and Biittikofer records it from Buluma, Robertport, and stations on the Junk 
and the Du rivers. He says it is found about habitations as well as in the bush 
growth. Our experience was limited but we found it on the edges of rice fields 
or among rank weeds. To a certain extent it represents Microtus in its habitat 
preference, though probably preferring drier situations. 
Malacomys edwardsi Rochebrune. Big-eared Rat 
Malacomys edwardsi Rochebrune, Bull. Soc. Philom. de France, Paris, vol. 9, p. 87, 1885: Mella- 
cori River, French Guinea. 
A medium-sized, slender rat, with large ears and long hind feet; brownish above, ochraceous 
on sides; gray below. 
This West Coast form of the genus was first described by Rochebrune from 
French Guinea, near the Sierra Leone border, but it is still uncertain how closely 
it may be related to M. longipes of the Cameroons. Miller recorded a young 
individual from Mount Coffee and Thomas mentions that one was taken by 
R. H. Bunting in 1910 at Bassa, Liberia. 
CTENODACTYLIDAE 
Thryonomys swinderianus swinderianus Temminck. Cane Rat; ‘‘Ground-hog”’ 
Aulacodus swinderianus 'Temminck, Monogr. de Mammal., vol. 1, p. 245, 1827: probably West 
Africa. — 
A stoutly built, chunky animal, about the size of a small ground-hog; upper incisors with two 
grooves, molars with one inner and two outer folds of enamel; coarse-haired, drabby brown. 
Gambia to Nigeria. 
The local name “ Ground-hog” is unusually apt, for in its stout build and gen- 
eral habits it recalls our Woodchuck and seems to occupy a somewhat correspond- 
ing niche, which perhaps accounts for its persistence as an archaic member of 
the African fauna, belonging to a group of rodents now very poorly represented 
in the Old World. It is said, however, not to live in burrows, but instead makes 
forms on the surface of the ground, among rank grass and weeds. Although this 
