MAMMALS COLLECTED BY DR. W. L. ABBOTT ON THE CHAIN OF ISLANDS LYING OFF THE WESTERN COAST OF SUMATRA, WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF TWENTY-EIGHT NEW SPECIES AND SUBSPECIES. By Marcus Ward Lyon, Jr., Of George Washington University, Washington, D. C. INTRODUCTION. Between the years 1901 and 1905 Dr. W. L. Abbott, in his zoologi-cal explorations of the Malay Arcliipelago, visited the chain of islands lying off the southern and western coast of Sumatra three times. On these expeditions he collected over 800 specimens of mammals, aU of which were presented to the United States National Museum. No general paper covering the mammals of this group of islands as a whole, or covering Doctor Abbott's collections as a whole from the islands that he explored has appeared. A few papers on the mammals of individual islands have been printed (Modighani, 1889; Thomas, 1894a; Miller, 1903a, 1906; Andersen, 1906; Lyon, 1908), and the collections made by Doctor Abbott, have been studied in part by Miller (1903a, 19036, 1906a, 1906c, 1911, 1913); Andersen (1905, 1912), Elliot (1910) and Lyon (1913). Two of the most interesting primates discovered in recent years were found among them (Miller, 1903&). About two years ago Mr. Gerrit S. Miller, jr., suggested that I make a study of the mammals of this region. Since then I have been en-gaged in this investigation during my leisure time. It now seems desirable to publish descriptions of the 28 new forms that examina-tion of the collections has revealed. A Hst of the islands that Doctor Abbott has visited with the species that have been found on each is appended. The references given at the end are the more important ones that have appeared dealing with the mammals that Doctor Abbott has col-lected, and with those of other collectors. They will serve as a guide to the place of pubUcation of the forms listed under the islands. Proceedings U. S. National Museum. Vol. 52-No. 2188. 437
Mammals collected by Dr. W. L. Abbott on the chain of islands lying off the western coast of Sumatra, with descriptions of twenty-eight new species and subspecies
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