Dr. N. Severtaoff on the Mammals of Turkestan. 51 



36. Spermophtlus fulvens. 



Has been met with by me in the low plains of western Thian- 

 Shan and Karatau, not above 4000 feet altitude. 



37. Sjjermophilus leptodactylus. 



Is a resident in the low-situated localities of Western 

 Turkestan. 



38. SpermojjJiilus hrevicauda, Brandt {mugosaricus?, Licht.). 



Inhabits all the low-lying parts of Turkestan, except the 

 south-western district, comprising the whole Zarevshan valley 

 and Hodgent district, where I have not met with it. 



39. Sjjermophilus sp. ? [hrevicauda ?) . 



The note of interrogation is placed here on account of my 

 having lost the specimens obtained at Ivarabur, and not being 

 able to compare them with typical 8. hrevicauda ] but the 

 latter I know well from specimens of my own collecting in 

 the Kirgies steppes of the lower Ural, and from the careful 

 examination of one hundred and fifty specimens obtained by 

 Carelin in the latter locality. At first sight I referred the 

 Karabur specimens to 8. hrevicauda, on account of the small 

 size (7-8 inches exclusive of the tail), the short tail, and the 

 grey colour, with indistinct, almost insignificant pied markings, 

 caused by the blackish and pale yellow rings round each hair. 

 I was rendered doubtful of the correctness of this determina- 

 tion only by the fact that >S'. hrevicauda is an inhabitant of 

 low plains, and no specimens of this genus have been found 

 in the cultivated altitude of the Karabur ; but these steppes 

 are not well known yet. But then there is the analogical fact 

 that 8. musicus has been found high up in the Caucasus 

 and in the New-Eussian steppes. 



I may mention here that I did not find any great difference 

 between 8. musicus and 8. hrevicauda. The former is de- 

 scribed as quite grey, and the latter as greyish pied, with each 

 hair of two colours, and a yellow belly ; but the roots of the 

 belly-hair of 8. hrevicauda are yellow, their ends are some- 

 times yellowish brown and sometimes whitish. The pied 

 appearance of the back is sometimes very plain and sometimes 

 quite insignificant ; and the shades of these characters on Ural 

 specimens are innumerable ; no two are alike. On the other 

 hand, 8. musicus is unicolorous only in comparison with 8. 

 guttatus, which inhabits just the same New-Russian steppes, 



the hair of the former being closely marked with rings ; the 



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