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Show 1896.] ON SOME MAMMALS FROM ECUADOR. 507 The following papers were read :- 1. On some Mammals from Ecuador. By W . E. D E WINTON, F.Z.S. [Eeceived March 17, 1896.] (Plates XIX. & XX.) In the absence of Mr. Oldfield Thomas, I have been entrusted by Sir "William Flower with the working out of a small collection of mammals from Ecuador, presented to the British Museum by Mr. Ludovicio Soderstrom, H.M. Consul at Quito. The collection consisted principally of a large number of beautifully prepared bird-skins, chiefly Humming-birds ; but though only three mammals were included, these furnish us with a knowledge of two very interesting species new to science. One is a distinct species of small deer of the genus Puclua. Since Bennett described the type in the P. Z. S. 1831, p. 27, from a female then living in the Society's Gardens, as Cervus humilis, no additional species have been discovered ; and as this animal has been found only in the forests of Chili and on the adjacent island of Chiloe, the more northern habitat of an allied species is of special interest. Tbe second specimen in the collection adds a third species to the genus Ichthyomys, the curious fish-eating rodents, described by Oldfield Thomas in the P. Z. S. 1893, pp. 337-340, hitherto known only from the great eastern slope of the Andes. The third specimen is one of the well-known Water-Opossum (Chironectes minimus), of wide range in tropical South America. Very little is known of the mammalian fauna of the country from which this collection was made; but we may hope, with the kind assistance of such a good collector and keen naturalist as our present Consul, before long to considerably improve our knowledge, and I have great pleasure in naming one of the species in his honour. Quito has the distinction of being the highest capital in the world, situated between the Eastern and Western Cordilleras in a lofty valley about 9000 feet above sea-level. The Paramo of Papallacta, whence the new Pudu comes, lies east of Quito, only just south of the Equator, and forms the roof of the great Amnzonian water-shed: it is a vast tableland about 11,000 feet above the sea, with mountains of between 18,000 and 19,000 feet to north and south of it; these are the summits of the Eastern Cordilleras and are mostly active volcanoes. The Eio Machan-gara, where the Ichthyomys was obtained, is the stream upon which Quito is built; it joins the Eio de San Pedro a little further north, and this river, draining the valley between the two ranges, is thence known as the Guallabamba, which, cutting through the "Western Cordilleras, flows into the Pacific Ocean. The Opossum comes from the banks of the Nanegal Biver, which is to the west of Quito and joins the Guallabamba lower down, its course being entirely on the west of the Cordilleras. |