A new squirrel from Borneo

VOL. XIV, PP. 33-34

APRIL

5. 1901

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

A NEW _SQUIRREL FROM BORNEO.*

BY GERRIT

S.

MILLER,

^JR.

The United

States

National Museum

contains

two _specimens

of the

Bornean

_squirrel

commonly

^{referred to}

^Sciurus

^tennis,

one taken by Mr. ^A.

Everett, the other

by Mr. ^{Charles Hose.}

Externally they

closely

agree with

true

Sciurus

tennis,

an animal which was

_originally described

from

material collected at

Singapore. The

skulls,

however,

are readily distinguishable

from

those of the

Singapore

squirrel,

and show

that the

Bor nean form, though

closely related, ^is

worthy

^of recognition

by name.

It

may ^be

^called:

Sciurus

parvus

sp. nov.

Type.Aduli ^male

(skin

and

_skull)No. 84,509UnitedStates National

Museum.

Collected at Nulu, Sarawak, Borneo _(altitude 1000 feet) in October, 1894,

by

Charles Hose.

Characters. Externally ^{similar to Sciurus tenuis} Horsfield,

though

underparts perhaps^lesstingedwith_buff; skull slightlylarger thanthat of S. tenuis, the braincase disproportionally large

and

_deep.

Color.

The

color so closely resembles that of Sciurus tenuis that no detailed description ^isrequired. Inthe

Bornean

specimens the belly^is less

washed

withbuff thaninthe topotypes, butthe difference

may

^be

seasonal, astheformer were taken in

summer and autumn,

^{the latter in}

spring.

Skull

and

teeth.

Viewed

from sbovethe skull ofSciurusparvusdiffers fromthatof*S

T

. tenuis inits

more

inflated, globose braincase.

The

^dif-

6 BIOL. Soc.

WASH.

VOL. XIV, ^1901. (33)

34 Miller

A New

_Squirrel

_from Borneo.

ferenceisparticularly noticeable posteriorly.

The

_greatest breadth of braincaseineachof

two

Bornean specimens ^{is 19}

mm.,

^{while in three} topotypes^{of 8. tennisitis}only ^17.6

mm. The

interorbital breadth on the contrary^isnearly the

same

inthe

two

_species, while there appears tobenodifferencewhatever in the breadth of rostrum.

Viewed

from thesidethe peculiarities in the skull of the Bornean animal are even,

more

_apparent.

The

depth ^of braincase from middle of parietal to lower edge^of audital bullaisfully 2

mm.

_greaterthanin Sciurus tennis while the depth ^of rostrum is barely equal ^to that of the mainland animal. InSciurusparvustheratioof least rostraldepth^tothe cranial depthjustdefinedisabout41; in8. tennis it is about 40.

The

ventral aspect^of theskull shows nopeculiarities.

Teethas in Sciurustennis.

Measurement*. External

measurements

of type (a well

made

_skin):

total length, ^285: head

and

_body, 165; ^tail vertebrae, 125; pencil, 45;

hindfoot, 37.6 _(35); earfrom meatus, 13.8; earfrom croVn, ^10.

Cranial

measurements

of type: greatest length, ^39; basal length, 31.6:

palatal length, 16.6; length of nasals, 11.4; greatest breadth of _nasals, 5.4: interorbitalbreadth,13.4; zygomaticbreadth,^23.6; greatestbreadth of braincase, 19.4; cranialdepth from middle of interparietal to lower rim of audital bulla, 17; least depth ^of rostrum, 7; mandible, 21.6;

maxillarytoothrow(alveoli), 7; mandibular toothrow(alveoli), 7.2.

Specimens examined.

Two,

the typeand one from Spitang.

Remarks.

A

seriesof Bornean specimens

may ^show

that Sciuruspar- vns differs from 8. tennis externally ^as well as in cranial characters.

The

_Spitangskin isdistinctlythe

more

_gray of the two, but as it

was

takeninJuly

and

thetypespecimenⁱⁿOctoberthe difference is proba bly ^seasonal. In coloritisapproached

by

^aspecimen^{of 8.tennis}taken at Singapore ⁱⁿ May. Except ^{in external} appearance ^the Bornean animal in no

way

closelyresembles the small Sciurus procerus^of

Bun-

guran^Island,

North

Natunas.

^

^Published here by permission ^of the Secretary ^of the Smithsonian Institution.