1921] Jacobson : Mammals from Sumatra. 237 



that it can be conipared with nothing else in Malaysia. In 

 different parts of Sumatra the animal is called tclegu. 

 Curiously enough, it does not occur in the Padang 

 Highlands. 



4. Felis tigris sondaica Fitzinger. 



There has been some controversy over the question 

 whether the Sumatran species ought to be separated from 

 the Javan one. It is therefore interesting to mention the 

 opinion of Mr. B. Ledeboer, the well-known tiger hunter. 



I translate here some of the most important passages 

 from one of his letters to me : 



"The different kinds of tigers distinguished by the 



" Javanese, (known as gemhol and tjantel) because of the 

 " shape of the stripes, are quite fictitious. The skins I 

 " possess from Java, Bali and Sumatra, more than one 

 ** hundred, all show the same kind of stripes. The slight 

 "■ diftcrences noticeable being due to age or mode of hfe. 

 " Tigers living in lalang fields are lighter in colour than 

 " those from the forest. Young tigers are different from 

 " old ones. The older the animal, the narrower and further 

 " apart the stripes will grow. In very old tigers the stripes 

 " on the front |)art of the body disappear altogether. 



" The Sumatran tiger is marked quite differently from 

 " the Javan form. If a Sumatran tiger is laid on its back, 

 " nothing is seen but a whitish skin, the under-side of head, 

 " throat, breast and belly being totally without markings. 

 " In the Javan tiger, however, the extent of white on the 

 " under-surface is considerably reduced and encroached on 

 " by the ends of the stripes from the sides. An animal from 

 " Sumatra may therefore be distinguished at a glance from 

 " one from Java. Moreover the stripes in the Sumatran 

 " tiger are not so continuous, being frequently broken ; they 

 " even show a tendency to form spots, not plain ones, but 

 " cuxles. Full grown tigers from Java, Bali and Sumatra 

 " do not vary much in size. The biggest example I have 

 " obtained ran somewhat over 3 metres ; 3.05 metres is an 

 " exception. The males are much larger than the females." 



[When Mr. H. C. Robinson and I wrote our note on 

 Sondaic tigers (Journ. F.M.S. Mus. VIII, pt. 2, 1918. p. 8) 

 we had to depend on literature for information and recorded 

 a Sumatran specimen as F. t. sondaica though Schwarz 

 had selected Java as the type-locality for that race. During 

 my visit to Java in 1920 I saw a number of tiger bkins from 

 that island and from Bali and am now of opinion that 

 sondaica must be used for the Javan animal only, for 

 besides having the narrower white undersurface mentioned 

 by Heer Ledeboer the stripes are undoubtedly less heavy 

 than in the Sumatran animal. The Sumatran and Malayan 

 material I have been able to compare is very small and 

 I have not been able to see any difference between the 

 animals of the island and the peninsula : both apparantly 

 are F. t. tigris. 



