EAST AFRICAN MAMMALS IN NATIONAL MUSEUM. 101 



6.1; postorbital constriction, 4.8; mandible, 15; upper tooth row, 

 includirg canii;e, 7.7; greatest breadth across last upper molars, 8.4; 

 entire lower tooth row, 9.3. The specimen was captm-ed May 18, 

 1909. 



Order CARNIVORA. 



Family CANID^. 

 Genus THOS Oken. 



1816. Thos Oken, Lehrb. Nat., 3ter Theil, 2te Abth., p. 1037. (T. aureus.) 

 1837. Vulpicanis Blainville, Ann. Sci. Nat., Paris, ser. 2, voL 8, p. 279. (T. 



aureus.) 

 1841. Oxygoiis Hodgson, Calcutta Journ. Nat. Hist., vol. 2, p. 213. July. (T. 



aureus indicus.) 

 1869. Dieba Gray, Cat. Carn. Mamm. Brit. Mus., p. 180. {T. aureus anihus.) 

 1906. Lupulella Hilzheimer, Zool. Beob., vol. 47, p. 363. December. (T. 



riiesomelas.) 

 1906. Sc/W#a Hilzheimer, Zool. Beob., vol. 47, p. 364. December. (T.adustus.) 

 1906. Alopedon Hilzheimer, Zool. Beob., vol. 47, p. 365. December. (C[anis] 



thooides Hilzheimer="C. a7ithus Cretzschmar, not of Cuvier.") 

 1914. Thos Heller, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 63, No. 7, p. 1. June 24. 



Concerning the jackals of tliis region Heller has written as follows: 



East equatorial Africa or rather Northeast Africa generally is supplied with more 

 gpecies of jackals than any other region. Three distinct species are found living 

 together on the same plains over most of the teiTitory of British East Africa. The 

 most distinct of the three species in coloration is the black-backed or T. mesomelas, 

 which has the black of the back sharply marked off from the bright rufous of the 

 sides. The Indian species, T. aureus, which here reaches its southern limit in Africa, 

 approaches mesomelas closely in shape of skull and the large size of its reddish ears, 

 but differs by the broken character of its black dorsal area which merges indefinitely 

 into the color of the sides. The best marked species of the three in skull characters 

 is the side-striped jackal or T. adustus, wliich has a long slender snout and very long 

 VulpeS'like canine teeth. In body coloration, however, it is not always easily dis- 

 tinguishable from the Indian, but it may be recognized with certainty by its small 

 dark-colored ears and the presence of a more or less well-marked white tail tip. (Hel- 

 ler, Smiths. Misc. Coll., vol. 63, No. 7, pp. 1-2.) 



For measurements of specimens of jackals see tables, pages 104-108. 



THOS ADUSTUS BWEHA Heller. 



Plates 12, 13. 



1914. Thos adustus bweha Heller, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 63, No. 7, p. 3. 

 June 24. (Kisumu, British East Africa; type in U. S. Nat. Mus.) 



Specimens. — Six, from localities as follows: 



British East Africa: Guas Ngishu Plateau, 2 (White) ; Kakmnega, 

 1 (Heller); Kisumu, 3 (Heller). 



The Swahili name for the jackal and the one commonly adopted 

 by the interior tribes now in touch with European civihzation is 

 hweha. Distinctive names for the three species occurring together 

 throughout the country do not appear to be in use among any of the 

 tribes (Heller). 



