212 Mr. 0. Thomas on 



(3) The Mountain Hares of the Stlvilaqus anbinus 

 Group. 



A number of hares, or, as Americans call them, rabbits, 

 from different parts of Ecuador and N. Peru have long been 

 in the British Museum under the name of Sylvilagus andinus 

 {Lepus andinus, Thos., 1887), but a renewed examination of 

 of them siiows tliat they consist of at least four definable 

 forms, while a fifth, very different from any, is now bt-iug 

 described by Sr. Cabrera. With the exception of the two 

 original specimens of andinus (obtained by W. Rosenberg) 

 all tiie British Museum specimens are from the collection of 

 the late P. O. Simons. 



Examples referable to true andinus, recognizable by its 

 large rufous nape-patch, which always extends beyond the 

 laid-back ears, and may reach the withers, are in the 

 collection from Cayambe, N.E. of Quito ; Guaillabamba, near 

 Riobamba ; the Paramos E. of Riobamba ; and Telagua in 

 Province Bolivar. 



Then from the neighbourhood of Mt. Chimborazo we get 



Sylvilagus andinus chimbanus, subsp. n. 



All essential characters as in true andinus, but the rufous 

 nape-'patch much reduced in size, so that no part of it shows 

 beyond the ends of the ears when laid back. Ears averaging 

 rather longer than in andinus; the region between tlieir 

 anterior bases and the eyes more prominently greyish (grey 

 no. C) than in the allied form. Upper surface of feet 

 generally quite white. 



Dimensions of the type (measured in the flesh) : — 



Head and body 335 mm. ; tail 20 ; hind foot 65 ; 

 ear 55. 



Skull : greatest length 67 ; condylo-incisive length 61 ; 

 zygomatic breadth 32*8 ; palatal foramina 16*3 ; breadth of 

 palatal bridge Q'Q. 



Hah. Sinche, Upper Rio Ohimbo, just north of Guabanda, 

 Ecuador. Alt. 4000 m. 



7>;je. Adult female. B.M. no. 99. 9. 9. 111. Original 

 number 146. Collected 20th December, 1893, by P. O. 

 Simons. Presented by Oldfield Thomas. Five specimens. 



Tliis is probably the form inhabiting Mount Ciiimbomzo, 

 near the western slopes of which Sinche (3200 m.) is 

 situated. 



