Jaguar 393 



areas ot the body being marked with solid black spots. Exact measure- 

 ments of freshly killed jaguars are still much wanted ; but it appears that 

 the length ot the animal usually varies between 6 and 8 feet, the length of 

 the tail being somewhat less than half that of the head and body. 



There are, however, probably great local differences in the size of 

 jaguars, those from Matto-Grosso, Brazil, as exemplified by a mounted 

 specimen in the British Museum (of which the head is shown in the 

 plate) being remarkable for their large dimensions. And it is probable 

 that these differences, together with those of colour, will eventually render 

 it practicable to divide the species into several local races. One such local 

 race is, indeed, apparently indicated by the form from Mexico described in 

 1857 by Dr. Gray as Leopaniiis hcrnandesi^ and at a much earlier date by 

 Hernandez himself as Fclis mexicana. In this form the small spots on the 

 body are placed so far apart from one another that it is only here and there 

 that they can be said to be aggregated into rosettes at all. Long ago it 

 was noticed by Humboldt that the jaguars of the dense forests of the 

 Orinoco have much darker skins than ordinary, the ground-colour being of 

 so dark a brown that the black spots and rosettes show upon it only very 

 indistinctly ; some individuals from this locality being completely black. 

 On the other hand, jaguars from the open plains of the countries forming 

 the southern portion of the habitat of the animal are much lighter 

 coloured than the ordinary form. 



Inclusive of its local varieties, the jaguar has a range extending from 

 the Red River of Louisiana southwards to the Rio Negro on the northern 

 frontier of Patagonia in latitude 40" S. 



In the tropical forest districts of Central and South America the jaguar 

 is to a great extent an arboreal cat, hunting monkeys, tree-porcupines, and 

 sloths with the stealthiness and agility characteristic of its tribe in general. 

 In Uruguay and Argentina, where it is now nearly exterminated, its hiding- 

 places are the scrub jungles which fringe many of the river valleys, or the 



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