THE PRJEVALSKY HORSE. 



(Equus Prjevalskii). 



In the year 1881, I. S. Poliakof founded the species, Equus 

 prjevalskii, upon the characters revealed by the examination of 

 the skin and skull of a single specimen which had been presented 

 to the Zoological Museum, St. Petersburg, by N. M. Prjevalsky. 

 Poliakof was of opinion that the animal from which the material 

 has been obtained was three years old at the time of death ; but 

 we are compelled to regard it as having been considerably younger 

 if the age be judged by the condition of the teeth, as would be 

 done in the case of the domestic horse. Moreover, seeing that 

 the skin carries the winter coat, it cannot be taken as showing 

 the typical external characteristics of the species ; and, conse- 

 quently, it can be easily understood that some of the features 

 described by Poliakof as specific have been proved not to have 

 this value ; with the result that alterations have been found 

 necessary in the list of specific characters as given by him. Thanks 

 to numerous expeditions into Mongolia, the collection of material 

 representing Equus prjevalskii is now considerable. The Zoologi- 

 cal Museum of the Imperial Academy of Science now possesses 

 tliirteen skins, nine skulls of different ages, and an incomplete 

 skeleton. A stuffed specimen is in the Zoological Museum of the 

 University of Moscow, and another is in the Museum at Paris 

 (Jardin des Plantes). Recently, living Prjevalsky horses have 

 been imported into Russia. 



F. A. Falz-Fein, as the fruit of assiduous toil, was the first to 

 succeed in obtaining living specimens. Three of his five young 

 thorough-bred mares are still living, as well as two half-bred 

 mr.res captured by him in 1898. A description of these, with 

 illusirations, will be giA^en later in this communication. In the 

 spring of 1901, Prince A. A. Oochtomsky obtained two young 

 specimens, a mare and a stallion, which he presented, in the same 

 year, to His Majesty the Czar, and which are now in the Imperial 

 stables at Tsarskoe-Selo. The Zoological Garden of Moscow also 

 obtained two young males in 1901, and a mare later. 



As I have determined to give a new description of E. prjevalskii, 



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