308 Mr. R. I. Pocock on the Equidas. 



Finally, if the kiang be united to the true horses, as pro- 

 posed by Mr. Lydekker*, it will be seen tliat of the four 

 groups into which the existing Equidse fall three have 

 received generic names. If in the future these be restored 

 to use, a fourth name must be given to E. Grevyl^ which is 

 perhaps the best-marked type of all; and I am inclined to think 

 that if the genus Equus be subdivided, a classification which 

 placed E. Grevyiin one category and the rest of the species in 

 another would not be far wide of the mark. 



The original example of Grevy's zebra was sent from 

 Abyssinia by the Emperor Meneiik to the then President of 

 tiie Frencli Republic, after whom it was named by Oustalet 

 (' La Nature,' x. p. 12, 1882). Specimens of apparently the 

 same species were subsequently received in tliis country from 

 Somaliland, and were unquestionably considered to be 

 identical with the Abyssinian form, of which no topotypical 

 examples were available for comparison. Within the last 

 few years, however, several living Abyssinian specimens, 

 presented by Meneiik to our English Sovereigns, have been 

 exhibited in the Gardens of the Zoological Society. These 

 zebras differ strikingly from those obtained in Somaliland 

 which have been sent to the British Museum in their staring 

 black-and-white coloration. 



That the type of the species upon its arrival in Paris 

 resembled the specimens afterwards sent by Meneiik to this 

 country is attested by Oustalet's description of the stripes as 

 " purple-brown tending to black, standing boldly out on a 

 white ground scarcely washed with grey." 



Since, then, the available evidence points to a constant 

 difference in coloration between the Abyssinian and Somali 

 Grevy's zebras, the latter must be regarded as a distinct 

 subspecies f- 



The two may be diagnosed and contrasted as follows : — 



a. Stripes black, interspaces white and of ap- 

 proximately the same tone as the white of 

 the belly Typical subspecies. 



h. Stripes dark brown, interspaces washed with 

 ochre-brown and very noticeably darker 

 than the white of the belly Subsp. herberensis, nov. 



The type of K. Oreviji herherensis is the skin of a specimen 

 shot by Capt. Swayne at Duhri, Ogardain (B.M. Reg. 

 94. 2. 21-1). 



* 'Nature,' vol. Ixv. pp. 103 & 104 (1001). 



f A form of Grevy's zebra from Lake Rudolf has been described by 

 Dr. P. Matschie (SB. Ges. naturfor. Berlin, 1898, pp. 169 & 180) as 

 EqiiUH Fmirei. See also Camerano, Atti Ace. Torino, vol. xxvii. 1902, 

 where another form of "quagga" is described as E, Chajnnani jalke. 



