PROCEEDINGS

Vol.

XXIV,

pp. 37-40 February 24, 1911

PROCEEDINGS

. OF I'ME

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

GENERAL NOTES.

THE TYPE LOCALITY OF MELLIVORA ABYSSINICA.

IPublished by permissionofthe Secretary of theSmithsonianInstitution.]

At the time of publishing the description ^of Mellivora abyssinica the locality fromwhich the _type, specimen

came

was

known

no closer than

"

vicinity of AdisAbaba, Abyssinia," and was so given ⁱⁿ the _original diagnosis.*

A

letter, recently received at the National

Museum

from thecollector,the

Hon. Hoffman

_Philip,givesthe exact _localitywherethe specimen was ^{killed asnear the} "Suksukki River, a small stream which connects Lake Zwai withLake flora Schalo; about

midway

^{hetween the} two lakes, whichwith others lie hetween 7° and 8° north _latitude, ami hetween 38° and ^:!!)° _longitudeeast. Altitude 4,500^to 5,000 feet."

—

N. Hollister.

DISCOVERY OF A FOSSIL DELPHINOID CETACEAN, WITH TUBERCULATE TEETH.

[Published by permission^ofthe Secretars of theSmithsonianInstitution.]

Among

^{the fossil remains of}cetaceans obtained ashorttime since by the National

Museum

from the Miocene formation of Maryland, ^{is a} nearly complete ^{skeleton of a} porpoise, which, on examination, _proves to he^a delphinoid form, that ^is, a _species

which may

^be referred tothe family Delphinidse, but has tuberculate ^teeth. Thisimportantspecimen enables ns to solve, in part, the hithertounsolved problem ^ofthe origin ofthe _typical porpoises ^ofto-day. ^It

now

appears unquestionable that they were derived from forms having ^teeth with tuberculate or serrate crowns, rugose enamel, and ^anterior

and

_posterior longitudinal ridges.

Thisform ofteeth is indicated in the recent delphinoid genusStem), ⁱⁿ which thecrowns have rugoseenamel,and, ^{as I} have _latelydiscovered, traces ofanterior

and

posterior ridges.

The

beak inthe fossil species ^isshortand broad, thesymphysis ^ofthe mandible moderately long, as in Steno, the supraorbital plates of the frontal large, the cervical vertebrae allfree, theatlas with a single trans- verse process, the thoracic,lumbar, and^caudal vertebrae short, thetrans- verse processes ^of the luinhars _long, narrow,

and

not expanded ^{at the} extremity.

•smiths.Misc.coll.,Vol.56,Xo.l:'..n.^l.Octoberin, 1910,

10—Pkog.Biol. Soc.Wash., Vol.XXIV, ^1911, (37)

38

General Notes.

It is probable that the^earlier ancestral forms ofthe Delphinidsewere allied to Squalodon^{an<l thattbefamilies} Squalodontidse

and

Delphinidse areoffshootsfrom a

common

stem, though from^{the littlethatis}

known

ofthe vertebral

column and

limbsof the squalodonts the hypothesis^still appearstenable that the Delphinidse originated from astockdistinctfrom the former, buthaving

somewhat

similar tuberculateteeth.

The

teethofthefossilspecieshave been

compared

^withthetype-teeth^of Delphinodon mento

and

I),

wymani,

^{with theresultthatitcan be referred} with certainty ^to that genus,

and

is possibly ^identical with the latter species.

The

genus Delphinodon, ^therefore, which has hitherto been regarded ^asbelonging ^tothe Squalodontidse, ^is

now

^tobe transferred to the family Delphinidse.

A

^full description^of the fossilskeleton, with illustrations, will be pub- lished by the National

Museum

^at anearly date.

—Frederick

W.

True.

NOTE ON THE MUS COMMISSAR

^I

^IS OF MEARXS.

[By permission^oftheSecretaryof theSmithsonianInstitution]

In 1005, Dr.

Edgar

^A.

Mearns

described a house

mouse

from Davao, Mindanao, Philippine Islands, as

Mus

commissarius, basing ^hisaccount ontwo specimens.*

The

U.S.National

Museum

containsten additional examples ^{of this}animal, two from

San Fernando

do Union, Luzon, ^six fromTokio, Japan, and two from ^thevicinity of Misaki, south^of Tokio.

The

Japanese specimens agree^{inallessential} characters with those from the Philippines, and the series as awhole _represents a form easily dis- tinguishable from

Mus

muscuJus by ^itscranial characters.

The

skull is slightlysmallerthan thatof thecosmopolitan animal, but the ^teeth are disproportionately reduced

and

thedistancebetweenthe maxillary tooth- rowsis appreciably^less.

The

audital bullae are _also, as pointed out ⁱⁿ theoriginal description,

somewhat

reducedinsize.

—

Gerrit S. Miller, Jr.

ON THE CORRECT NAME OF THE INCA TERN.

Mr. Oberbolser has

shown

(Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Quarterly Issue, Vol. _48,part I,

May

13, 1005, 01⁾ that N;vnia Boie is

untenable as the generic

name

for the Inca Tern.

He

_adopts Inca Jardine (Contr. Orn. 1850, 32) but unfortunately ^this

name

^is also untenable on account of Inca _Lepeletier

and

Serville (Encycl. Meth., Zoology, ^Vol. N, 1825, 380) ^fora genus ^of Coleoptera.

The

next avail- able

name

is apparently Larosterna Blyth ^{(Cat. Birds} Mus. As. Soc, 1852, 293)

and

thespecies willstand_as, Laroslerna inca (Lesson).

—J.

H. _Riley.

*Proc.U.S.NationalMuseum, XXVIII,p. 449,

May

13, 1905.

General Notes.

39

NEW NAMES ^FOR TWO EUROPEAN VOLES.

The names

current for two European

members

^{of the} genus Pitymys can not remain ⁱⁿ use: Pitymys ^ibericus ft/sens, applied ⁱⁿ L908*toa Spanish animal, ^is invalidated by Arvicola agrestis fuscus ^qi Fatio, L900,i a

synonym

^of Pitymyssubterraneus,i and P. _selysii(Gerbe) L852§

isantedated by Arvicola selysii Bonaparte ^L845II published ^{as a}

synonym

of P. savii.

To

replace these untenable

names

^I would suggest Pitymys ibericuspascuus and Pitymys ^druentius respectively.

—Gerrit S. Miller, Jr.

NOTE ON THE SCALES OF THE OSTEOGLOSSID FISHES.

In these Proceedings,

XX

III, p. ^{111, I} described thescales of Heterotis.

I

am now

indebted to Dr. Boulenger^{for a scale of} Scleropagesformosus (or Osteoglossum

formosum)

^{from Sarawak. It is very large, about 49}

mm.

_diameter, and _nearly circular.

The

reticulated radial pattern ^is wonderfully complete, and consists of intersecting curved lines which divide thescale intosmall areas about _{1)4 to 2}

mm.

ⁱⁿ diameter,

more

or lesssquare, but with^a corner pointing ^tothe scale-margin.

The

_very

fine circuliare moniliform throughout; ^{it isevident that the} moniliform circulidistinguish thescales of Osteoglossidse from those of Mormyridse, in which there is no tendency ^to beading.

The

rough greyish-brown skin isas in Heterotis, and _very

much

as inthe

Mormyrid

Gymnarchus.

The

Eocene^fossil Dapedoglossus ^testis('ope,from

Wyoming,

^showsthe

characteristic Osteoglossid reticulation, hut in the _apical field the radii arc not broken up^orunited; ^{so the}sculpture approaches ^{rather thecon-} dition of theMormyrids.

—

T. I). A. Cockerell.

*Miller.Ann.andMag.Nat.Hist..Milser., ^I.p.206,February,L908.

tRevueSuisseilrZool.,VIII,p.^-17J.

1SeeMottaz,^Bull.Soc. Zool.de Geneve,^I.p. 159.Novemberl">.1908.

§Rev.etMag.deZool.,2ndser.. IV.i>.151).March,^1852.

||AttiSestaRiun,Sci. Ital.,Torino.1844, p. 350. 1845.