The Leopard 



irregularly shaped than those on the head. On the 

 upper surface of the tail the spots are elongated and 

 light-centred ; but towards the tip of the upper surface 

 they assume the form of broad transverse bars, the 

 under surface of the tail-tip being uniformly yellowish 

 or white. 



Marked local differences in form and in the length 

 of the tail and hair are likewise noticeable, the Man- 

 churian race being a more heavily built and longer- 

 haired animal than the leopard of Bengal. 



The distribution of the leopard includes the greater 

 part of Africa, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Syria, 

 Palestine, Persia, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, a large part 

 of Central Asia, India, Assam, Ceylon, Burma, the 

 Malay Peninsula, Siam, China, Manchuria, Java, and 

 Sumatra. With such an enormous geographical range, 

 it is only natural to suppose that the leopard should 

 be divisible into a considerable number of local races. 

 The first point in connection with these races is to 

 indicate which is the typical Felis pardus of Linnaeus, 

 by whom the species was named. In the Sy sterna 

 Naturae the first reference is to the figure of an African 

 representative of the species, and this might be taken 

 to indicate that the typical leopard is the African form ; 

 but at the conclusion of his notice Linnaeus gave the 

 habitat of the species as in Tndis^ and since the 

 description indicates that all the spots on the upper 

 surface are ringed, it accords better with the Indian 

 than with the African animal. 



African leopards are collectively characterised by 

 the spots being numerous and comparatively small, 

 and more especially by the circumstance that the whole 

 or the greater portion of those on the fore part of the 

 body — that is to say, about as far back as the hind 

 side of the shoulders — are in the form of irregular 

 solid spots, the rosettes not making their appearance 

 till behind the shoulder-blades. Frequently these 

 solid spots tend to continue some distance down the 



