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Show 130 ON THE LONG-LOST PUTOEIUS AFEICANUS. [Feb. 5, Hemprich and Ehrenberg's name. These two specimens are of just about the size of the smaller N . African Weasel as given by Lataste, and I would suggest that they have been wrongly looked upon as young and that they are really adults of the smaller species, while the two larger specimens might be small females of P. africanus. This point, on which the nomenclature of the smaller species if different from P. boccamela1 will depend, can only be settled by a detailed examination of the Berlin types and their skulls, an examination which I trust Dr. Matschie may himself be able to undertake and give an account of. That certain Egyptian Weasels are only of the size of P. bocca-mela is also borne out by tbe characters and measurements given by Hensel2 of an original skull of P. subpalmatus belonging to a skeleton preserved in the Anatomical part of the Berlin Museum3. This skull is, however, unfortunately not sexed, and therefore the comparison of measurements may be between female subpalmatus and female boccamela. Still, Hensel does say distinctly that P. subpalmatus is a species " die allerdings mit der Boccamela identisch ist," although whether his assertion was based on an examination of external as well as cranial characters I have no means of knowing. The following are some pertinent measurements of Mediterranean Weasels :- Head & m ., , -, Tail. body. " Putorius boccamela." mm. mm. Sardinia (topotype). 8 (in spirit) . . 206 79 do. do. $ do. .. 145 51 Algeria (fide Lataste). $ do. ..162 46 " Putorius subpalmatus" (fide Matschie). Egypt. No. 10034 (stuffed).... 170 44 do. 10054 do 170 42 do. 1004 5 do 270 90 do. A. 373 $ do 270 S7 Putorius africanus. Egypt, c? (in spirit) 260 108 do. o* (skin) do. 2 (skin) Malta, d (stuffed) (c.)300 105 In using the names boccamela and subpalmatus for present purposes, I do not wish to be taken as expressing any opinion as to 1 Lataste states that boccamela as a technical name dates only from 1835; but Becbstein's ' Naturgeschichte Deutschlands,' in which it occurs (vol. i. p. 819), was published in 1801, and I also notice that the species was binomially quoted by Fischer (Syn. M a m m . p. 224) in 1829, so that in any case it is of earlier date than subpalmatus. 2 " Craniologische Studien," N. Act. Leop. xiii. pp. 177-179, Table S column 4 (1881). 3 No. 5661. 4 The real co-types ; see above. Hind-foot. mm. 36-6 26 26 (with claws). 26 26 33 31 47 41 38 43 |