Paraechinus hypomelas (Brandt, 1836) . Bull. Sci. St. Petersb., 1:32.

TYPE LOCALITY: "N. Persia,” probably N. Iran, Khorassan .

DISTRIBUTION: Arabia; Tanb Isl. (Persian Gulf); Iran; Afghanistan; Turkmenia, Tadzhikistan, and W. Kazakhstan (S. U.S. S.R.); N.W. India.

COMMENT: Gureev, 1979:176; Gromov and Baranova, 1981: 10 listed this as a subspecies of aethiopicus; see Corbet, 1978:16, who considered hypomelas a distinct species. See Ognev, 1927, Zool. Anz., 69: 210-212 for discussion of type locality.

ISIS NUMBER: 5301403005010002001.