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Show 254 MESSRS. O. THOMAS AND H. SCHWANN ON [Apr. 18, 4. The Rudd Exploration of South Africa.- I II . List of the Mammals obtained by Mr. Grant in Zululand. By O l d f i e l d T h o m a s , F.R.S., and H a r o l d S c h w a n n , F.Z.S. [Received March 21, 1905.] (Plate XVI.*) [The complete account of the new species described in this communication appears here; but as the names and preliminary diagnoses were published in the ‘ Abstract,' such species are distinguished by the name being underlined.- E d ito r .] In continuation of the collecting-work carried on by Mr. C. D. Rudd's generosity, by which our National Museum has already been so large a gainer, Mr. C. H. B. Grant spent November and December 1903, and again, after a visit to the Transvaal, June to September 1904, in Zululand, where he collected the specimens of which the present paper gives an account. It was at Mr. Rudd's own suggestion that Mr. Grant went to Zululand, and the resulting collections have more than fulfilled any expectations that could have been formed as to the value and interest of a series obtained there, for quite a number of the species have proved to be altogether new to science, while in other cases forms only hitherto known from isolated or unlocalised specimens are now illustrated by good series of trustworthy skins. In several instances we have been able to revise confused or little-known groups, such as Myosorex and the Golden Moles, with the result that a number of new forms have proved to need description. Of these by far the most noteworthy is the handsome Hare which we have named Pronolagus ruddi, while other interesting species are the Golden Moles, Amblysomus iris and A. chrysillus, and the different forms of Myosorex. The localities at which the specimens were obtained are as follows :- Eshowe. Altitude 550 m. Sibudeni and the Jususie Valley, about 20 miles to the N.W. of Eshowe. Altitudes 1100 to 1700 and 350 in. respectively. Ngoye Hills, 15 miles E. of Eshowe, and about 8 miles inland from the coast. Altitude 200-300 m. Umvolosi Station, 3 miles from the river of the same name and about 15 miles from the sea. Altitude 30-60 m. Hlupluwe Stream; about 20 miles N. of Umvolosi. Of the last localities Mr. Grant says :- " Round the Umvolosi Station sandy grass-covered flats and undulating country stretch away to the south and east, dotted * For explanation of the Plate, see p. 276. |
