22 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 75 



irieiits are given. The last maxillary molar measures 43 mm. in 

 length and 21.4 in width. 



URSUS LEUCONYX Seyertzow 



Ursns- leuconi/x Husvkht'/.o'w. Naoh. Gesellseh. Moscou. vol. S. 1873. p. 79 (Altai 

 region, Siberia). 



Specimen. — One from near Taoehow, Kansu. 



There is nothing in the original description which indubitably 

 places this species in the cave-bear rather than the arctos group. 

 Sowerb}^ (1920) assumed that it b'elonged in the former because of 

 its light-colored claws. In this he was probably correct and his lead 

 in this respect should be followed for the present. Another nomen- 

 L-latural possibility is haikalensis Ognev, which seems to belong to the 

 JSpelaeus group rather than to arctos, as the describer stated. Its 

 [ype locality is apparently the Irkutsk part of the Sajan Mountains 

 south of Lake Baikal, and it seems likely that it will prove to be 

 sjmonyuious with Jevconyw. The present specimen is a juvenile but 

 a very large race is indicated and the last upper molar has a length 

 of 40 mm. Although unsatisfactorily comparable, there are ap- 

 parently no important differences between this skull and one from 

 south of Irkutsk that are not attributable to age. There are indicated, 

 however, external differences that are believed to be of subspecific 

 "significance, but because of the tender age of this single example and 

 ignorance of the juvenal pelage of undoubted leuconyx, I do not feel 

 justified in making it the basis of a new name. U. leuconyx is said to 

 have white claws while those of the Kansu skin are rather dark horn 

 color. The hairs of the entlie head are almost black at ba!•^e but are 

 so extensively tipped with ochraceous tliat it appears yellow; and the 

 same to a lesser extent is true of the middle and lower back. There 

 is a broad collar of pure white, from 50 to 100 miw. ^vide, wliicli also 

 extends over the chest and narrowly upon either side almost to the 

 groin. The suggestion of a light collar is found in many races of 

 Asiatic bears of both types and it is ImoAvn that this is often more 

 pronounced in the young than the adult. But it is not believed that 

 the young of leuconyx could be so strikingly marked in this respect 

 while the adult largely lacks any white collar, which from the de- 

 scription seems to be the case. That the markings of the Kansu skin 

 are not individually peculiar is shown by the photograph of a 

 specimen from the same general region, apparently identically 

 marked, which occurs in Frank Wallace's " Big Game of Central and 

 West China"; but whether the latter is of an adult or juvenile is 

 not mentioned. 



