162 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



hound-like form of the body. The genus Felis, of which 

 the hon and the leopard are typical representatives, has 

 short, curved, and sharply pointed, retractile claws, a more 

 elongated head, the skull being much lower in dorsal out- 

 line and the snout longer and more dog-like. 



The Lion 



Felis leo 



The lion is quite as familiar to most persons as our com- 

 mon domestic animals and needs no description. We can- 

 not, however, include the various geographical races in this 

 last statement. Much diversity of opinion exists among 

 sportsmen as to the actual existence of the differences as- 

 signed by naturalists to the various described races. Some 

 of the hunters who have had the widest experience with 

 lions have observed such great color and pelage variation 

 among them that they refuse to accept the differences 

 which naturalists have pointed out in their diagnoses. 

 The well-known African hunter Selous is apparently one of 

 the leading sceptics. This lack of confidence in the exist- 

 ence of geographical races is quite in keeping with the broad 

 methods of comparison employed by even careful field ob- 

 servers, and has been shared by us in the hunting field. The 

 comparison of a large number of skins and skulls preserved 

 in various museums has, however, shown us the error of such 

 ideas. The racial differences upon which the races of lions 

 are based are so fine that they can only be detected and ap- 

 preciated on the actual comparison of specimens. Our field 

 observations on differences usually lead us astray. The 

 extremes only of color, mane, size, and other characters are 

 kept in mind, and the average differences are wholly ob- 

 literated or undiscoverable to us. Age characters which 

 are dependent upon the examination of the skull sutures 

 are seldom made in the field, and much confusion results on 

 this account. Nothing, for instance, is more common in 

 the literature than the statement of the occurrence of adult 

 maneless lions. A careful examination of many museum 

 specimens, however, has failed to find really old lions. 



