EAST AFEICAN MAMMALS IN NATIONAL MUSEUM. 157 



cranial and dental measurements. Skulls and teeth of females vary- 

 much more than do those of males. The range of variation in size 

 of the teeth in lionesses from one locality is startling. There is great 

 variation in the shape and size of the auditory bullae in sloiUs from 

 one locality. 



Out of seven wild-killed adult males, with manes well grown, only 

 two are "black-maned" lions. A skin collected by Doctor Abbott 

 near KiUmanjaro has the entire mane almost pure black, and one 

 collected by Kermit Roosevelt on the Laikipia Plateau has the mane 

 largely black. From the same locaUties are yellow-maned Hons with 

 scarcely a trace of black in the hair of the head, neck, and shoulders. 

 Several others have slight traces of black in the manes, but the ordi- 

 nary condition seems to be the almost purely ''yellow-maned" type. 



The following notes on the type-specimen of Felis lea massaica 

 were made by Heller in Berlin : 



Type c? old, A5586. Skin mounted and on exhibition. Skull perfect except for 

 right side of mandible which is broken in half and the posterior half missing. Sphe- 

 noidal sutures closed. Greatest length, 358; condylo-incisive length, 320; zygomatic 

 breadth, 328; interorbital breadth, 74; postorbital breadth, 62; nasals 100 X 62; 

 length upper carnassial, 38; length of mandible, 240; width audital bullae in front, 35; 

 width foramen magnum, 27; height of foramen magnum, 22. 



One of the most interesting results of the study of the large series 

 of lions now preserved in the museum is the discovery of the definite 

 variations existing between wUd-kilied animals and those which have 

 been reared in captivity. This has been described in detail in a 

 special paper.^ An outline of the most important features of this 

 paper is given below. 



Lions in zoological parks are often dealers' specimens without 

 definite history, or animals born in captivity; but in the series of 

 specimens of Felis leo massaica m the National Museum collection 

 are five adult lions which were captured as small cubs in the region 

 near Nairobi, in practically the same locality where many of our 

 wild-Idlled specimens were obtained. They were presented to the 

 National Zoological Park by Mr. W. N. McMillan, and are known as 

 the ''McMillan lions." At the time of their arrival in Washington 

 they were from 22 to 30 months old. All of these lions were adult 

 at the time of death and four of them lived to complete maturity, 

 or from six years and two months to seven years and eight months 

 of age. 



In addition to giving reliable information as to the age when 

 lions reach full maturity, with the skuU fiiUy developed, the basi- 

 sphenoid suture ankylosed, and the sagittal crest completely formed, 

 these specimens furnished an opportunity for direct comparison 

 between wUd-kOled and park-reared specimens known to be of the 



I Some Effects of Environment and Habit on Captive Lions, Proe. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol., 53, pp. 177-193, 

 pis. 22-25. Jtme 1, 1917. 



