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Show 1888.] OF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS. 471 Shortland Island. The present individual agrees in every respect with the type. 2. PTEROPUS * HYPOMELANUS, Temm. No further specimens of this species were obtained, and Short-land Island remains therefore its only known locality within the group. 1 The following new species of Pteropus from the Duke of York Archipelago may also be conveniently described here : - PTEROPUS CORONATUS, sp. n. (Plate XX. fig. 2, Plate XXI. figs. 2, 3.) Ears of medium length, naked, projecting much beyond the rather short fur; their anterior edges far less convex than their posterior, their tips bluntly pointed. Wings arising on the back only about half an inch apart. Inter-femoral membrane narrow, concealed in the centre by the fur. Whole of head and neck very pale buff, nearly white on the crown between the ears and above the eyes. Face ornamented with a prominent brown T-shaped mark, of which the cross-line runs transversely across the forehead halfway between the eye and ear, and the upright runs down the centre of the face between the prominent white supraorbital patches, and extends forwards about one third of an inch in front of the anterior canthus of the eye. Eyelids and muzzle nearly naked, brown. Cheeks and chin dark blackish brown. Front of neck, chest, and centre of belly very pale brown, scarcely darker than the nape. Sides of belly and pubic region darker brown. Posterior back blackish brown, mixed with dull yellowish; the fur closely adpressed, and only about one inch broad at the narrowest part. Fore limbs and membranes nearly naked above, a few hairs only extending along the upper side of the humerus and forearm; upper and posterior sides of the thighs thickly furry ; lower leg naked. Below the fur covers the antebrachial membrane, the humerus, femur, and the wing-membrane internal to them, and also passes along the outer side of the forearms in a band about one inch wide. Teeth (Plate X X I . figs. 2, 3) unusually strong and heavy, smoothly rounded, without basal cusps. Canines very long and sharp, their basal ledges obsolete. Anterior upper premolar very minute, but still persistent in the type. Other premolars very short horizontally, their breadth almost equal to their length. Last molars, both above and below, comparatively large, above about one fourth and below about one third of the penultimate molars. Anterior lower premolar about half the size of the last molar, separated from the canine and next premolar by diastemata each about equal to its own diameter. Dimensions of the type, an adult male in spirit:-Head and body 243 millim.; head 77; tip of muzzle to eye 29; ear 24x16; forearm 167 (=6-6 in.); thumb without claw 66 ; lower leg 76 ; calcaneum 26; foot 56-5. Skull:-Basal length 69 ; greatest breadth 383 ; interorbital breadth 9 9 ; palate, length 43, breadth outside m.2 21 3, inside m.2 125; basi-craniai axis 22"2 ; basi-facial axis 49. Teeth :-Combined breadth of upper incisors 7'7 ; vertical length of upper canine, from cingulum to tip behind 10-6; horizontal length of large anterior premolar 5'0, of posterior premolar 5-0, of first molar 6-5, of second molar 3-8. Hab. Mioko Island, Duke of York group (Dr. 0. Finsch), 13/3/85. This very handsome species has a certain superficial resemblance to Pt. ocularis. Peters *, of which I have examined the type, an old male, in the Berlin Museum. That animal, however, is distinguished by having a forearm only 137 millim. long, by its much smaller teeth t, and by many detailed differences in coloration, among which may be specially mentioned its wholly black underside, the black extending all over the front of the neck. * M B . Ak. Berl. 1867, p. 326. t Combined breadth of four upper incisors 5 7 millim.; length of upper canine 6-9, of last upper premolar 3 6. |
