OCR Text |
Show • J MR. O. THOMAS ON MAMMALS FROM ECUADOR. 397 20. N A S U A RUFA, Desm. Two specimens from the Copataza river, and one from Balzar. 21. BASSARICYON ALLENI, n. sp. (Plate XXXVIII.) One adult female from Sarayacu. This is by far the most interesting animal contained in the collection, as the genus has been hitherto known from a single skull only, collected by Prof. Gabb in Costa Rica, and now in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, the skin of which has been accidentally mislaid1. This skull Mr. J. A. Allen, in the -Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy' for 1876, described under the name of Bassaricyon gabbi, and figured it most carefully; so that, on comparing the skull of our specimen with his figures, I was at once able to see that it was undoubtedly congeneric ; there were, however, so many differences in detail as, combined with the difference in locality, to necessitate its separation as a distinct species. This I take the liberty of naming after the founder of the genus, to whom every student of the Mammalia owes a heavy debt of gratitude for the work he has done among the North-American representatives of that class. In its external characters our specimen presents a most extraordinary resemblance to the common Kinkajou (Cercoleptes caudivolvulus) ; in fact, if the skull had not been taken out of the skin here, so that no doubt could exist as to their belonging to one another, no one could have believed that it was any thing but a rather small specimen of that animal. The body and tail are orange-grey, the hairs of the back being tipped with black ; the belly is of the same colour, but lighter. The face and crown are covered with short whitish hairs tipped with black, the black tips being longer towards the occiput. The resulting clear grey of the face is the only distinction in colour from the Kinkajou, that animal having the face coloured like the body. The tail is long, covered with long woolly hairs, many of which show a distinct golden lustre. From the appearance of the fur it seems probable that the tail is not prehensile (as it is in the Kinkajou). The fur all over the body, like that on the tail, is rather longer and more woolly than that of the Kinkajou. The mammae are two in number, situated about 2^ inches from the anus. The skull is nearly exactly tbe same size as that of B. gabbi, and has the same general proportions; but the following differences are observable:-(1) The upper outline of the skull in B. gabbi is regularly convex, but in B. alleni the frontal region is flattened from the crown to the nasals ; thus the perpendicular height of the skull from the front edge of the alveolus of the last molar to the frontal profile (fig. 2, a to b) in B. gabbi measures 1 inch, in B. alleni only 0*9 in. (2) In the side view of the skull in B.gabbi the frontal profile shows distinctly above the supraorbital process and ridge, while in B. alleni 1 By an unfortunate mistake Mr. Allen was led to figure in the Proc. Phil. Acad, for 1877 the skin of the Central-American Coati (Nasua nasica) as that of his Bassaricyon gabbi; but he has since explained the error. |