SOME TIBETAN ANIMALS.* 



By R. Lydekker. 



Naturalists are speculating whether the opening up of Tibet, which 

 is practically sure to follow the present expedition to Lassa, will 

 result in the discovery of any new animals of special interest. So far 

 as the smaller mammals, such as mice, rats, squirrels, shrews, etc., are 

 concerned, it can not be doubted that systematic collecting will be sure 

 to yield a certain number of new forms. With regard to the larger 

 mammals, the case is, however, different, and it would l)e unwise to 

 expect that any strikingly new type is likely to turn up, although 

 important information will doubtless be obtained in due course with 

 regard to the mode of life and the nature of the habitat of several 

 of the nuunmals already known to us. The reasons for taking this 

 somewhat discouraging view as to the prospects of discovering new 

 animals of large size in Tibet arc as follows: 



In the first place, although few Europeans have hitherto actually 

 reached Lassa, the country has l)een traversed to the northward of 

 that city from east to west — notably by Messrs. Bower and Thorold 

 in 1892 — by travelers who have done all in their power to collect 

 specimens of the fauna; while many sportsmen, naturalists, and col- 

 lectors have penetrated far into the interior from either the eastern or 

 the western border. Moreover, the typical Tibetan fauna inhabiting 

 the high plateaus above 14,000 feet is closely allied to, if not absolutely 

 identical Avith, that of eastern Ladak, which lies within the limits of 

 Kashmir territory, and has therefore for many 3'ears past been readily 

 accessible to Europeans. On the other hand, the mammals of the 

 somewhat lower and apparently more or less wooded districts forming 

 the eastern portion of Tibet range into the northwestern provinces of 



a Reprinted, by i)erniission, from Knowledge and Illustrated Scientific News, 

 London, September, 1904. 



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