medium-sized South- American Felidse. 45 



According to Matschie and Tliomas, therefore, tliere are 

 two species of cats living side bj side in Roca Nova, Parana 

 — a larger [F.guttula) and a smaller [F. pardinoides), — wiiich 

 differ in the skull-characters mentioned bj Thomas in his 

 diagnoses of groups II. and III. 



As stated above, tlie two skulls which formed tlie basis of 

 this opinion are those of a male and female respectively. An 

 examination of them convinces me that the differences they 

 present are beyond doubt individual and sexual, and not 

 specific. Nor is this conviction shaken by a comparison 

 between the skins of the two cats. That of the male shows 

 a bold pattern of rather large blackish spots, strong stripes 

 on the neck, and well-defined rings at the end of the tail. 

 Although the female is black and clearly a melanistic sport, 

 the pattern of rings on the tail and of large spots on the sides 

 is percej)tible and does not differ appreciably from that of the 

 male. A second male from the same locality differs a little 

 in skull-characters and somewhat markedly in pattern from 

 the first, the spots being differentiated into incomplete black 

 rings partly surrounding a brownish area. 



Thus it appears that groups II. and III. of Thomas's 

 classification are based upon a single species, F. pardinoides. 

 Gray, with^M/<i</a, Hensel, and ^(a'^//a, Hensel, as synonyms. 

 That F. pardinoides is closely related to geoffroyi does not 

 appear to me to be open to question. F. salinarum also 

 comes into this category. Moreover, as Thomas has pointed 

 out, the skull of F. pardinoides shows many resemblances to 

 that of F. jaguarondi, thus serving to link the hitter with 

 F. geoffroyi. Nevertheless, although F. jaguarondi is affili- 

 ated to tlie group of species, or subspecies, exemplified by 

 F. pardinoides, guigna, salinarum, and geofroyi, there is a 

 wider interval between it and pardinoides tlian between the 

 latter and geoffroyi. 



Now, as regards group V. : this was established for the 

 reception of a cat from Cayenne which Thomas identified as 

 F. tigritia, iSchreber. Tiie skin of this animal is yellowish 

 grey in the tint of the ground-colour and decidedly richer in 

 tone than skins of F. geoffroyi, salinarum, and pardinoides. 

 On each side of the body there are about five longitudinal 

 rows of tolerably large, mostly imperfectly ocelliform spots. 

 On the neck theie are four rather narrow stripes, of which 

 the two external pass forwards to the eyes, the median stopping 

 short between the ears. The tail is long and boldly patterned 

 to the end, and the hairs of the neck are not reversed. 



Of the skull only the facial pait is preserved. It is poorly 

 developed from the muscular point of view, but the special 



