724 Mr. 0. Thomas on 
LXXXI. — Four new African Carnivores. 
By Oldfield Thomas. 
(Published by periuiasion of the Trustees of the British Museum.) 
Ilelogale vttula, sp. n. 
A species nearly without the buffj and rufous tones 
characteristic of the other central and northern species. 
General colour above finely grizzled grey, very much 
as in //. atkinsoni, but with still less suffusion of buffy. 
Head minutely speckled " smoke-grey " ; no rufous or bufiy 
on the sides of the face. Under surface scarcely lighter than 
back, the belly brownish grey, the throat and inguinal 
region drabby, washed incons])icuously with dull buffy. 
Sides of neck behind ears rather stronger buffy. Limbs Ike 
body to the metapodials, the latter and the digits dull 
pinkish buff. Tail grizzled, its tip and median line below 
slightly buffy. 
Teeth of medium size. 
Dimensions of the ty])e (measured in flesh) : — 
Head and botly 215 mm.; tail (perhaps shortened in con- 
finement) 130 ; hind foot 44-; ear 25. 
Skull : condylo-basal length oO'S ; zygomatic breadth 32 ; 
interorbilal breadth 10*4 ; breadth of brain-case 23'5 ; 
palatal length 24 ; breadth between outer corners of p' 19 ; 
jt>*, length on outer edge 3'8, greatest diameter 5*1 ; breadth 
of m^ 4-7. 
JJab. Lamu, coast of British East Africa. 
2ype. Adult male. B.M. no. 11. 10. 2lJ. 1. Presented 
alive to the Zoological Society by the Kev. W. 1). 
Braginton, and given at death to the National Museum. 
This species is at once distinguished from the other East 
African forms of Ilelogalehy the almost complete suppression 
of the bulTy, rufous, or ochraceous tones generally present, 
especially on the muzzle, cheeks, and under surface. Even 
the comparatively greyish Somali species, II. atkinsoni, is 
tawny or ochraceous on the throat and inguinal region, 
though, like //. vetula, it has a greyish head. 
From H. hirtula the present species is separated l)y its 
buffy instead of blackish toes. 
UclogaJe percivaJi, sp. n. 
A dark grey species with blackish limbs. 
Eur close, finely s})ei:klcil, not loose and shaggy as in 
new African Carnivores. 725 
7/. Iiirtula, though tlic isoh'\tcd longer hairs in the fur arc 
unusually numerous. General colour above dark finely 
speckled greyish brown of a tone uidike that of any other 
species — a sort of greyish bistre; the underfur blackish for 
its basal half, dull ochraceous buff terminally. Head be- 
tween burnt umber and vandyke-brown ; chin and inter- 
ramia similar. Belly darker brown ; inguinal region paler. 
Forearms from elbows blackish brown, darkening on digits to 
black ; fore claws rather larger than U5>ual. Feet dark grizzled 
brown, the digits blackish brown. Tail dark speckled brown, 
not becoming more rufous terminally above, although there 
is an inconspicuous rufous line below, more obvious basally. 
Dimensions of the type (measured in flesh) : — 
Head and body 225 mm,; tail 175; hind foot 47; 
ear 21. 
Skull : condylo-basal length 505 ; zygomatic breadth 30 ; 
interorbital breadth 10 ; breadth of brain-case 22*5 ; front 
ot canine to back of m'^ 17*4; ju^, length on outer edge 4*1, 
greatest diameter 6 ; vi^, breadth 4*8; m^, breadth 4. 
Jloh. Orr Valley, near Mt. Nyiro, N. British E. Africa, 
4500'. 
T^pe. Adult male. Original number 427. Collected 
31st March, 1911, by Mr. A. Blayney Percival. 
This striking s])ecies is distinguishable by the combination 
of blackish feet with rufous head, the other rufous- or buffj- 
hcaded forms all having similarly rufous feet. 
Ilelogale hirtula lulescens, suhsY). n. 
Like the typical hirtula of the highlands of Central Somali, 
but with the posterior back suffused with dull buflfy. Throat 
and belly with the dull rufescent colour replaced by grey on 
the former and browniish on the latter part. In other 
respects as in hirtula, including the blackish digits. 
P^ of the type, greatest diameter 6"2 ; ni^ 5'6. 
External measurements o£ the Webi specimen : — 
]lead and body 243 mm.; tail 185; hind foot 45; 
ear 15. 
Ilab. (of type). Lake Rudolf, on the plains near the N. 
end of the Lake. Another specimen from Italian Somali- 
land. 
Ti/pe. Young male. B.M. no. 6. 11. 1. 19. Original 
number 126. Collected 7th August, 1905, by Ph. C. Zaphiro. 
Presented by W. N. McMillan, Esq. 
T!ie Museum owes to Dr. R. E. Drake-Brockman an adult 
example of this buffy-backcd form of H. hirtula, obtained 
726 On new African Carnivores. 
by him at Afgo, Webi River, Italian Somaliland. But un- 
fortunately its skull has been lost, and I therefore take as 
type Mr. Zaphiro's specimen from Lake Rudolf. Allowing 
for the difference of age, the two specimens appear to agree 
closely with each other, and equally to differ from the grey- 
backed H. hirtula. 
Lutra maculicolUs nilotica, subsp. n. 
Larger than in the other subspecies, the throat white- 
s})ottecl. 
Size, as gauged by skull, larger than in true macuJicoIIis 
and in L. m. matschiei. General colour as usual. Lips 
white-edged, throat profusely spotted with white, a few 
white spots also in the inguinal region. 
Skull, both of male and female, decidedly larger than in 
the corresponding sexes of maculicolUs and matschiei, the 
difference most pronounced in the male. Brain-case high 
and vaulted. Teeth comparatively large. 
Skull-measurements ot adult male and female specimens : — 
Condylo-basal length 113'5 mm., 105 ; basal length 103-5, 
96'8 ; zygomatic breadth 69^ 63 ; interorbital breadth 20"5, 
18*5 ; mastoid breadth 59, 54 ; heigiit of brain-case from 
between bullae 41, 40*5 ; front of canine to back of m^ 34'5, 
32*2 ; jy*, length on outer edge 12*4, 11*3; greatest diameter 
of ml 12-8, l6-6. 
Hah. J\Jalek, just south of Bor, Upper Nile. 
Type. Adult male. Original number 2. Two skulls and 
three skins, obtained from the Dinkas by the Rev. Archibald 
Shaw, of the Church ]\lissionary Society, by whom they were 
sent to Mr. A. L. Butler, of Khartoum. 
Wliile there is no question that this otter may be readily 
distinguished from the true L. maculicoUis of South and 
Central Africa and L. m. matscJiiei of the Congo and Gulf 
of Guinea by its greater size, there is some doubt about the 
Abyssinian otter described by O. Neumann as L. concolor *. 
But Prof. Neumann expressly states that of many skins of 
L> concolor examined, none liad any light throat-markings 
(these being present in all three of iMr. Butler's skins) and 
tiiat the animal inhabited the Hawash river-basin on the 
eastern side of the watershed, and not the Nilotic river- 
system at all. 
• SB. Ges. nnt. Fr. Berl. 190J, p. oo.