22 STUDIES IN THE EVOLUTION OF ANIMALS 



spots on the Jaguar's shoulder (Fig. 4) are evidently dissociated 

 rosettes, while the spots on its hind-quarters and abdomen are 

 evidently fusions or consolidations of rosettes ; so that the Cheetah 

 spotting may have had either the one or the other origin. 1 



Anyhow, it is evident that the transverse strings of spots on 

 the fore-legs of the Cheetah (Fig. 10) are homologous with similar 

 transverse marks on the fore-legs of the Jaguar and other Leopards. 



As to the minute specks, I have a suspicion that they may 

 have possibly resulted from the specks enclosed within the Jaguar 

 rosettes. In the modifications which these animals have under- 

 gone, the specks may have been extruded, as we have almost 

 seen them do in Fig. 8, and have become disseminated among the 

 bigger spots. 



A close scrutiny of the Cheetah spots may lead one to detect 

 something like dissociated rosettes, especially on the right shoulder 

 and haunches of the skin figure ; but on the haunches and tail of 

 the living-animal figure the spots look more like consolidations of 

 whole rosettes. 



There is no good reason why the characteristic spotting of the 

 Cheetah should not be a combination of both processes, viz., dis- 

 sociation in some parts and consolidation in others ; for in the 

 same animal the Jaguar we find typical rosettes on the flanks, 

 dissociated rosettes on the shoulders, and consolidated rosettes on 

 the abdomen and legs. In certain Leopards the enclosed specks 

 become entirely obliterated, while in the Cheetah these little specks 

 may form one of its characteristic features. 



Fig. 59 (No. 35) shows four groups from the flank of a Cheetah ; 

 and on the haunch of a Cheetah in the Natural History Museum, 



1 Of two Cheetahs in the Tring Museum, one has isolated spots on half its tail, 

 while the other has, in the same part, rings with scolloped edges, indicating a fusion of 

 spots. 



