Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China (Siam), Cambodia, and Laos (Vol. 2 of 2) / During the Years 1858, 1859, and 1860

by Henri Mouhot

LIST OF THE NEW SPECIES OF MAMMALS DISCOVERED BY THE LATE M. MOUHOT IN CAMBODIA AND SIAM.

By Dr. Albert Günther.

a. Monkeys.

1. Hylobates pileatus.

MAMMALS.

Male.—Black: back of the head, back of the body, and front hind legs greyish; forehead and circumference of the black spot on the crown paler grey: hands and tuft of long hair round the organ of generation white.

The three specimens in this state are all nearly of the same size, and appear to be adult. They only vary slightly in the size of the coronal spot, and in the extent of the white colour on the hands.

Female.—White: back brownish white, slightly waved; a large ovate spot on the crown, and a very large ovate blotch on the chest, black.

These specimens are all of one size, and appear to be adult; three have the teats well developed. They vary in the size of the black chest-spot, and in the colour of the whiskers, thus:—

a, b. White: spot on the chest moderate, reaching only half-way down the abdomen: whiskers on side of face white.

c. Brownish: spot on chest larger, reaching further down the abdomen: sides of the face black: a few black hairs on the throat.

d. Brownish: side of the face, under the chin, and the whole of the throat, chest, and belly black: teats well developed.

Young.—Uniform dirty white, without any black spot on chest or head.

All those varieties were found by M. Mouhot on a small island near Cambodia. (Described by Dr. J. E. Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1861, p. 135.)

b. Carnivores.

2. Herpestes rutilus.

Grizzled chestnut-brown, variegated with black and white rings on the hairs: the head and limbs darker chestnut, with scarcely any hair, and very narrow white rings: lips and throat, and under part of the body, uniform duller brown; the nape with longer hairs, forming a broad short crest.

Cambodia. (Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1861, p. 136.)

c. Squirrels.

3. Sciurus Mouhotii.

Grizzled grey brown, with pale rings: lips, chin, throat, and under side of body and inside of limbs white: the upper part of the sides with a longitudinal black streak, edged above and below with a narrow white line: tail blackish, whitish washed, hairs elongate, brown, with two broad black rings and a white tip: ears simple, rounded.

The species differs from most of the squirrels of the size, in the three streaks being on the upper part of the back, and in the dark colour between the two colours of the upper and under surface.

Cambodia. (Named by Dr. J. E. Gray, after M. Mouhot, and described in Proc. Zool. Soc., 1861, p. 137.)

4. Sciurus splendens.

All the specimens are bright red bay.

Var. 1.—All over dark, and very intense red bay, with a white spot on each side of the base of the tail.

Var. 2.—Top of the head and tail, like var. 1, dark and very intense red bay: side of the back, under sides of the body, and tip of the tail paler red bay, without any white spot at the base of the tail.

Var. 3.—Uniform pale bay, like the side of var. 2: tail and middle of the back rather darker and brighter: tail without pale tip or white basal spot.

Var. 4.—Crown, middle of the back, and tail dark intense red bay: throat, chest, and under side paler red bay, like var. 2, 3: cheeks, shoulders, and thighs, and outsides of the fore and hind legs brown, grizzled, with yellow rings on the hairs: side of the body rather greyish red.

Cambodia. (Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1861, p. 137.)

5. Sciurus siamensis.

Bright red-brown, grizzled, with elongate black tips to the longer hairs, each of which is marked with a broad subterminal yellow band. These black hairs are more abundant and have broad pale rings on the rump, outside of the thighs, and especially on the lower part of the tail, where they nearly hide the general red colour. The terminal half of the tail bright chestnut-brown, without any black hairs or pale rings. The throat, breast, belly, lower part of sides, inner side and edge of the legs, uniform bright red-brown: ears rounded: whiskers black: feet covered with short close-pressed hairs.

(Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1859, p. 478.)

d. Ruminants.

6. Tragulus affinis.

Similar to T. javanicus in colour, but rather smaller and much paler, and the side of the neck similar in colour to the side of the body: the belly is white, with a brown streak on each side of the central line: the head is smaller. It is larger than T. kanchil; very much paler; and the neck is not blacker and grizzled. A specimen of the species has been in the British Museum, as above named, for many years: it is said to have come from Singapore; but that probably was only the port of transit. It may be only a small pale local variety of T. kanchil.

Six specimens, adult, all exactly similar, and one young, have been collected by M. Mouhot. (Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1861, p. 138.)

7. Cervulus cambojensis.

There are the forehead covered with hair and the horns of a Muntjack in the collection sent by M. Mouhot from Cambodia: it is very much larger than any specimen of that genus in the British Museum collection, and is probably a distinct species.

The horns are thick, nearly straight, with a short, thick recurved branch on the outer part of the front side, near the base, and one of them has a somewhat similar callosity on the hinder side on the same level. Hair of forehead very rigid, close pressed, dark brown, with narrow yellow rings. (Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1861, p. 138.)