THE HYENA AND THE HUNTING DOG 263 



Marsabit Spotted Hyena 



Crocuta crocuta fisi 

 Crocuta crocuta fisi Heller, 1913, Smith. Misc. Coll., vol. 61, No. 22, p. 5. 



Range. — Desert lowland region from the Northern 

 Guaso Nyiro River drainage north through the Lake Ru- 

 dolf region to Abyssinia and eastward to the coast. 



Specimens of the spotted hyena inhabiting the low, 

 arid desert region of the Northern Guaso Nyiro and Mount 

 Marsabit region are decidedly shorter-haired, lighter-col- 

 ored, and smaller-spotted than the variable germinans 

 of the highlands to the southward. This hyena has 

 recently been described as fisi by Heller from specimens 

 from the Merille water-holes situated in the desert midway 

 between the Guaso Nyiro River and Mount Marsabit. It 

 is further distinguishable from the Somaliland race, rufi- 

 ficta, also a desert inhabitant, by the reddish color of the 

 spots and the more buflfy or ochraceous ground-color of the 

 latter. 



The ground-color is pale-buff, spotted irregularly over 

 the back by rather small black spots varying in diameter 

 from a quarter to three-fourths of an inch and covering an 

 area only about one-fourth that of the ground-color. The 

 spots are heaviest and most distinct on the midline of the 

 back and faintest on the neck, sides of the body, under- 

 parts, and shoulders, but the head and the feet are un- 

 spotted. The tail is basally like the back in color, with a 

 few dark spots, the terminal one-half being covered by a 

 bushy black tuft of long, coarse hair. The feet are uni- 

 form olive-brown to the toes, in contrast to the spotted 

 upper portions of the legs. The head is grizzled-buffy and 

 blackish on the crown and sides, the snout, muzzle, lips, 

 and chin being uniform dusky-black in contrast. The 

 whiskers and the long hairs above the eyes are black. The 

 throat and the sides of head below the ears are uniform light- 

 buff without darker spots. The back of the ears show a 

 grizzled appearance, due to the scantiness of the short 

 buffy hair which allows the blackish skin to show through, 

 but the ears on the inner side are more heavily clothed by 

 longer whitish hair. The hair is short, the length on the 



