PAPIO 117 



these last they are continually searching, and turning over stones 

 beneath which the desired object may lie concealed. 



The Baboons may be divided into four groups, the dark and light 

 colored; the former containing P. porcarius, P. doguera, P. sphinx, 

 and their allies, and for the light hued group, P. cynocephalus, P. 

 strepitus, etc. Besides the brownish black and yellow species above 

 mentioned, there is the gray style represented by P. pruinosus, and 

 the maned baboons such as P. hamadryas ; for while other species 

 in all the different groups have long hairs on the back, yet in com- 

 parison with the hamadryas group this can hardly be correctly styled a 

 mane. In general the recognized species have an ascertained and 

 authentic locality accompanying the original descriptions, but some 

 have been menagerie specimens, or dwellers in Zoological Gardens, and 

 their original habitat is unknown. In some cases these examples have 

 given rise to much confusion and doubt among Mammalogists, as it is 

 not easy to determine them from descriptions, the coloring being so 

 confused and difficult to indicate clearly ; and without any geographical 

 distribution of the species, or the type locality being known to guide 

 one correctly, many mistakes have been made. In this genus a 

 prominent instance of this is found in P. anubis F. Cuvier. This 

 Author states he saw two specimens, but he does not say where, nor if 

 they were living or dead. His description is only partial, the chief 

 important statement being that the general pelage is "verdatre fonce," 

 and he gives an excellent plate of a green baboon, the like of which is 

 not found in any collection to-day. On my visit to the Paris Museum, 

 diligent search was made for this type specimen, but it could not be 

 found, and there is no proof that it was ever in the National Collection. 



Here then we have a description and figure of a baboon unlike any 

 known to exist, without locality, and the type lost. There is no possible 

 way conceivable by which this species can be identified, and to prevent 

 further confusion and useless discussion it seems best to drop the name 

 anubis from the genus Papio, and ignore it in the future. As a general 

 thing, those examples which are received without authentic habitats, 

 being chiefly individuals from Zoological Gardens, constitute the most 

 unsatisfactory types for new species, and such a type in some cases is 

 worse than none at all. Anubis is a case in point, and it would have been 

 much better if Cuvier had never described nor figured it. Anderson in 

 his Zoology of Egypt describes a baboon from the Nile valley which he 

 calls P. anubis, but it answers neither to the description nor plate of 

 Cuvier. Anderson's P. anubis is probably P. cynocephalus, but as he 



