140 Mearns he American Jaguars. 



to the toes, those of the arms and thighs measuring 30*to 00 millimeters 

 in diameter. Claws, horn color. Tail spotted and banded with black, 

 the intervening areas being clay color or somewhat hoary' nearest the 

 tip, which is broadly black. The upper side of tail has more black 

 than light, the under side having the black and clay-colored areas about 

 equal in amount. In the median line, above, each light ring has a black 

 spot, and the last pale rings are mixed with black hairs. There are 

 three subterminal bands of solid black above, the more proximal ones 

 being interrupted. On the under side of tail the pattern is confused 

 and the light areas whitish. Underparts buffy white, heavily blotched 

 with black. Under side of body with a median chain of small black 

 spots, and two rows of somewhat quadrate black blotches on either side, 

 the spots averaging about fifty millimeters in diameter. On the under 

 side of neck and head, the black spots, which are much smaller than 

 those on the chest and abdomen, tend to form transverse chains, while 

 those of the cheeks and muzzle are arranged in longitudinal series. 



The flat skin of a jaguar taken about 100 miles up the Segovia River, 

 which forms the boundary between Nicaragua and Honduras, killed by 

 Mr. Charles H. Townsend of the United States Fish Commission, closely 

 resembles the specimen from Costa Rica just described, differing in be 

 ing slightly more intense in coloring, the vertebral spots coalescing so 

 that an interrupted median dorsal stripe is formed; and some spots in 

 the lateral rows are filled with black, others having the rosettes elon 

 gated and resembling the outline of the animal's hind foot, small black 

 spots suggesting the pads or tubercles. In general, the two may be con 

 sidered to be identical. 



Skull and teetJi. Skull high, narrow interorbitally, with small, pointed 

 audital bulhe. Dentition weaker than in the remaining forms (see 

 measurements). 



Measurement*. Following are measurements taken from the skin of 

 an adult male, No. 01,192, U. S. National Museum Collection: length, 

 1800mm.; tail, 57.): hind foot, 220; ear from crown, 00; chord of long 

 est hind claw, 28; fore claw, 20. The fiat skin described above, from 

 Honduras, has the end of the tail gone; its head and body measure 1475 

 mm. in length. Measurements of skulls of two adult males (Nos. 14,177 

 and 14,170, both from Talamanca, Costa Rica, collected by Professor \V. 

 M. Gabb): basilar length, 200, 212; zygomatic breadth, 101), 175; mastoid 

 breadth,^l02, 105; distance between orbits, 42.5, 45; between tips of post- 

 orbital processes, 08, 70.5: postorbital constriction, 41.5, 43; length of 

 nasals, on median line, 59, 00; greatest breadth of nasals, 38, 43; distance 

 from foramen magnum to hinder margin of palate, 103, 108; from pos 

 terior margin of palate to middle incisor tooth, 98, 100; length of in- 

 terpterygoid fossa from base of hamular process, 33, 37; distance be 

 tween upper carnassials, 52.5; 50; distance between upper canines, 

 32, 30.5; greatest length of mandible, 107, 180; greatest height of man 

 dible, 81, 84; length of upper incisor series, measured on alveoli, 29, 32; 

 distance across upper canines, measured on alveoli, outside, 05, , 69; 

 length of upper lateral toothrow, 75, 82.5; length of upper premolar 



