ORDER ARTIODACTYLA I EVEN -TOED UNGULATES 633 



and at the completion of the first turn the hind keel is situated on 

 the inner border, whereas in all other Markhors this position is 

 occupied by the front keel. 



Burrard writes (1925?, p. 177) that this "is the characteristic 

 type for the area comprising the Chialtan, Takatu and Zarghan 

 Ranges, and almost all the hill systems situated between Quetta and 

 Chilas. ... It has been stated that the Chialtan variety is a 

 hybrid between markhor and domesticated goats, but this is not 

 the case." 



On the other hand, Ward remarks (1935, p. 264) : "May perhaps 

 turn out to be a hybrid between the Markhor and domesticated goat ; 

 some Chialtan specimens being almost certainly of this nature." 



If it is a thoroughly wild animal, and if the distribution given by 

 Burrard is correct, the Chialtan Markhor occupies an intermediate 

 geographical position between megaceros and jerdoni, yet its taxo- 

 nomic characters are not at all intermediate between those of the 

 other two. Furthermore, Lydekker (1913c, vol. 1, p. 169) records 

 specimens of megaceros from Quetta, close to the type locality of 

 cMaltanensis. Thus the position of the latter is decidedly anomalous, 

 unless it is either a hybrid or specifically distinct from the other 

 Markhors. 



Suleman Markhor 



CAPRA FALCONERI JERDONI Hume 



Capra Jerdoni Hume, Proc. Asiatic Soc. Bengal 1874, p. 240, 1875. ("Suleyman 

 Range.") 



FIGS.: Blanford, 1891, p. 507, fig. 167; Lydekker, 1898c, p. 295, fig. 57; Lydekker, 

 1900, pi. 4, figs. 5, 5a, and pp. 119, 121, figs. 20, 21; Stebbing, 1912, p. 246, 

 fig.; Lydekker, 1913c, vol. 1, p. 170, fig. 44; Ward, 1935, p. 266, fig. 



This Markhor, with its headquarters in the Suleman Range, has 

 suffered severe persecution, and its numbers are apparently more 

 seriously reduced than those of any other subspecies. 



Height at the shoulder not exceeding 38 inches; horns compara- 

 tively short (up to about 48 inches in length in a straight line), 

 forming a perfectly straight cone, upon which the front and hind 

 keels are wound in a sharp spiral, forming in good specimens two to 

 three complete turns. Beard said to be less developed than in the 

 Astor and Pir-Panjal subspecies. (Lydekker, 1898c, p. 294; 1900, 

 p. 120.) 



The ranges of the various subspecies of Markhor are difficult to 

 define. The horns, upon which the classification is chiefly based, 

 exhibit considerable variation even in a single area, and consequently 

 our knowledge of subspecific limits is none too exact. "These 'types,' 

 as laid down in the average book of museum origin, are by no means 



