52 



THE MAGELLANIC DOG OR COLPEO. 



CANIS MAGELLANICUS. 



Canis magellanicus, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1836, p. 88; id. Mag. 



Nat. Hist. 1837, p. 578 ; Water-house, Zoology H.M.S. 



'Beagle/ Mammalia, p. 10, plate 5 (1839) ; J. A. Wagner, 



Suppl. to Schreber's Saugth., Abth. ii. p. 431 ; Gay, Hist. 



de Chile, Zool. vol. i. p. 59. 

 Canis (Pseudalopex) magellanicus, Burmeister, Fauna Brasiliens, pp. 24 



and 51 (1856) ; id. Republique Argentine, vol. iii. 



p. 146. 

 Pseudalopex magellanicus, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1868, p. 512; id. 



Cat. Carnivorous Mammalia, p. 199. 

 Cerdocyon magellanicus, Hamilton Smith, Jardine's Nat. Library, vol. ix. 



p. 266, pi. 30(1839). 

 Canis culpaeus, Molina, Compendio d. 1. hist. nat. del Regno de Chili, 



p. 330; id. Essai sur Fhist. nat. du Chili (Paris, 1789), 



p. 274. 



THIS handsome animal is represented in our National Collection by 

 two skins from Tierra del Fuego, and two other skins from Chile, with 

 several skulls and skeletons. Like so many other species of the Canidae, 

 it is evidently subject to individual variations, probably due to habitually 

 different climates or the change of the seasons. The fur of both the 

 specimens from the extreme south is much longer than that of those 

 from Chile, although the skulls of specimens from both localities are 

 alike. 



The species was first made known by the Abbe Molina, who, however, 

 believed it to be the same species as that described by us under the 

 name of C. antarcticus. In some respects its habits appear to be 

 similar, for the Abbe tells us that he often met with it in the woods, 

 and that each time he did so, if he stood still, it would come towards 



