60 STEPPE FAUNAS AND TEMPERATE 
kiang or wild ass (E. hemionus). The tarpan is now 
limited to the regions of the steppe most remote from 
human influence. Like its allies it goes about in small 
troops under the leadership of an old male, and has 
extraordinarily acute senses and great swiftness. In 
winter its.coat is so thick as to form a kind of fur, 
and it obtains food by scraping away the snow from 
the ground. It is almost uniform in coloration, and of 
a dun colour. Prejevalski’s horse is of a similar colour 
above, but is almost white underneath. Such a dun 
tint is common in steppe and desert animals, and is 
doubtless protective. In the kiang there is a dark 
stripe down the back, and traces of striping on the 
limbs, but the body is of a uniform darkish colour, 
instead of being striped as in the African zebras. The 
kiang (see Fig. 16) inhabits the higher parts of the 
steppes, and occurs at great heights in Tibet. 
Still another group of ungulates is represented in the 
steppes by the Bactrian or two-humped camel (Camelus 
bactrianus), which with its long hair, moderately short 
legs, and hard feet is as well fitted for the hilly and 
rocky regions of the steppes, as is the one-humped 
camel for the sandy deserts to the south. The animal 
feeds largely upon the bitter saline plants of the steppes, 
and will drink saline and brackish water, so that it is 
a typical inhabitant of the salt steppe. The two humps 
allow for the storage of fat when the animal is well fed, 
and thus permit it to withstand periods of semi-starva- 
tion. Its appetite is, moreover, remarkably catholic, 
for, according to Prejevalski, it will devour all sorts 
of animal matter if vegetable food fails. 
Taking antelopes, horses, and camel as representa- 
tives of the ungulates of the steppes, we may pass on 
to the consideration of the rodents, which are numerous 
