A new squirrel from Lower Siam

Vol. _XVI, pp.

147148 November

12,1903

PROCEEDINGS

OFTHE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

A NEW _SQUIRREL FROM LOWER SIAM.

BY GERRIT

S.

MILLER,

^Jr.

[By permissionofthe Secretary^oftheSmithsonianInstitution.]

Five small

lineated _squirrels collected

by ^Dr. W.

L.

Ab-

bott in

Trong, Lower _Siam,

differ

markedly from

^the

Burman

Sciurus

barbei.

So

far as

can be judged from

descriptions

they

areidentical

with

the

Malaccan Sciurus

macclellandi leucotis of

Bonhote*, though ^without

^actual

comparison

^of

specimens

^this question

must remain

_open.

They

^are,

however, very doubtfully the same

as the

Tamias

leucotis of

Temminckf; ^and

^the

name adopted by ^Mr. Bonhote

is certainly invalidated

by Gapper's

earlieruse of

Sciurus

^leucotis for

an American

_squirrel^.

The animal occuring

ⁱⁿ

Trong may ^{be known}

^as:

Sciurus

novemlineatus,

sp.nov.

Type.

—

Adult

male

(skin

and

skull),No. 84,403,UnitedStatesNational

Museum.

Collectedat1500ft.elevationinheavy^forest

among

^thehills

ofTrong,

Lower

Siam, February19, 1897, by ^Dr.

W.

L.Abbott.

Characters.

—

Externally similar^toSciurus barbei Blyth,butearsmaller

and

withthe hairsofthewhitetuft scarcely, ^ifatall, blackish at base.

*Ann. and

Mag.

^Nat. Hist., 7thser., V, p. 53, January, ^1900.

fEsquisses Zoologiques sur ^laCote de_{Guine, p.252, 1853.} "Peninsula ofMalacca."

JZool. Journ., V, p. 206, 1830. Ontario.

38—Paoc. Biol. Soc. Wash. Vol. XVI, ^1903. (147)

148

Miller

— _A New

_Squirrel

_{from Lower} ^Siam.

Skull smallerthan that of the

Burman

animal, the rostrum relatively shorter,

and

_region between anterior zygomatic ^roots proportionally broader.

Color.—Type: ^{sides of}

body and

outer surface ^of legs hair-brown faintly tinged with yellowish, particularly on flanks.

Back

with nine longitudinal stripes as follows: a

median

black_{stripe 3}

mm.

inwidth is

succeeded by^a slightlybroader stripe of dull ochraceous-buff;

beyond

this lies a black stripe 7

mm.

wide followed by one ^{of clear buff of} similarwidth; ^{this inturnis}bordered onthe outerside by^a blackline aboutasbroadasthe

median

stripe, extending from ^{shoulder to} rump.

Except

^{thisshortoutermost}

band and

the buff stripe, these longitudinal markings extend from middle^ofnecktorump.

The

^buff stripe^is con- tinued forward _along side of neck

and

under ear to cheek,

where

it

spreads^{soas to}surround _eye, muzzle

and

lips.

Behind

_eye there is a faint

dusky

^{line, and still}

more

faint dusky

wash

extends over lower part^ofcheek

and

_alongside of

neck

betweenbuff_stripe

and

thedarker colorof the underparts. Ears tawny-ochraceousinternally,blackextern- ally except ^for the conspicuous white ^{tuft attip;}

many

^{of the hairs of}

this tuftwhitetoextremebase.

Whiskers

black. Feetdullochraceous.

Underparts

and

innersurfaceof legs clearochraceous-buff, slightly

more

yellow than^{that of}

Ridgway,

^{the hairs}slaty at base. Hairsoftailblack atbaseand atextreme_tip, the intermediate regionoccupied

by

^abroad

band

ofdullochraceous,anotherofblack, andanarrow subterminalarea ofyellowish-white. Pencil black slightly grizzled

by numerous

^small yellowish annulations.

Skull

and

teeth—

The

skullissmallerthan that of Sciurus barbei, the diameteroftheorbits

and

auditalbulla;isless,

and

therostrumisshorter.

On

the otherhand, ^theinterorbitalwidth^isfully asgreat^{as in}the larger animal,

and

thelachrymal breadth^isdistinctly greater.

The

increased breadthof the region between the anterior zygomatic ^{roots contrasted} withthe shorterrostrumgives the skull a verydistinctiveappearance^as

compared

^{with that ofSciurus barbei. Teethas inthe}

Burman

animal, butsmaller throughout.

Measurements.—

Measurements

of type: ^total length, 210;

head

and body, 115; ^tailvertebrae, 95; hindfoot,30(28); earfrom meatus, 12; ear from crown, 8; width of ear, 8; skull,greatest length, ³¹ (33)*; basal length, 25(27.8); length of ^{nasals, 8}(9.4); interorbital breadth, 12 _(12);

lachrymal breadth, 16(15.6); mandible, ^17.4(19).

Specimens examined.

—

_Five, allfrom Trong,

Lower

Siam.

Remarks.

— That

this is not the

same

as the

Tamias

leucotisof

Tem- minck

^is

shown by

^{the stress laid in the} original description ^of the Malaccan animal onthe presence^of onlyone black longitudinal stripe.

In one of

Temminck's

_specimens the underparts were white _slightly

washed

with reddish; ⁱⁿtheotherthey appear ^to have been essentially as inthe speciesfoundinTrong.

*Cranial

measurements

in parenthesis are those^of anadult

male

^Sci- urusbarbei from Yado,

Burma

_{(No. 36,044).}