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Show 1 9 0 5 .] ON THE MAMMALS OK CRETE. 3 1 5 4. On the Mammals of Crete. By Dorothea M. A. B a te * . [Received September 6, 1905.] The following list of the wild mammals known to inhabit Crete is based on a small collection made in the island during a stay of four and a half months in the earlier part of last year (1904) This includes only sixteen species, but it is quite possible that a species of Crocidura may have to be added to the number, for remains of a Shrew were found in more than one Pleistocene cave-deposit in the western part of the island, and it is not unlikely that it may yet survive. It is probable that a Iloedeer still existed in the island during the earliest historical times. Four species seem to be here recorded for the first time from this locality ; these are Rhinolophus ferrum-equinum, R. liipposideros, Micromys sylvaticus hayi, .and Acomys dimidicitus minoiis. In his work on Crete f published in 1869, M. V. Raulin gives a list of thirteen species, amongst which is included the Polecat as well as the Beecli-Marten and Weasel; however, no specimens appear to have been obtained, so that their occurrence may have been admitted on insufficient evidence or as the result of some confusion with regard to the other members of the group. Admiral Spratt +, in describing the country between Eremopoli and Palaikastro, mentions that Foxes occur there; but this was doubtless a slip, for elsewhere (vol. ii. p. 157), in reference to the safety of the flocks of sheep, he says that " Crete has no wild animals but badger and weasels or martens." Dr. Lorenz- Liburnau has written at some length on the Wild Goat of Crete; and in 1903 Major Barrett-Hamilton described the Hare, and noticed the Badger and Beech-Marten, at the same time remarking on the paleness of the specimens from this locality. The same may be said of the Cretan Hedgehog and Rabbit, but is not the case with the Weasel and Spiny Mouse, which are both richly coloured forms. Crete has, in all probability, been isolated as an island for a considerable period, therefore it is not surprising to find that there are a number of localised forms amongst the Mammalia. Admiral Spratt, whose valuable researches were carried on in so many parts of the Mediterranean, was of opinion § that Crete was connected in earlier times with Europe (including Asia Minor), and not with the north coast of Africa as tradition would have us suppose jj. Suess would also seem to link this island rather with the northern than the southern boundaries of the Mediterranean. The mammalian fauna, as well as the recent land- * Communicated by O l d f i e l d T h o m a s , F.Z.S. f Description Physique de l'lle de Crete, 2 vols., Paris, 1869. X Travels and Researches in Crete, 2 vols., London, 1865 (vol. i. p. 205). § Op. cit. vol. ii. pp. 408-10. || Ibid. pp. 278-9. La Face de la Terre, vol. ii. p. 713. |