8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 6l 



Characters. — -The African highland cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus 

 vclox, is characterized by its large, close set black spots which pre- 

 dominate over the ochraceous tone of the ground color, the boldly 

 spotted hind legs, long pelage, and large body size. From jubatus 

 of the Cape region of Africa it may be recognized by its larger dorsal 

 spots, lighter ground color and larger body size. It may be distin- 

 guished from raineyi by the absence of pinkish suffusion to the coat, 

 the larger and more numerous spots, and longer pelage. 



Coloration. — The dorsal ground color of the type is ochraceous, 

 deepest on midline of back and palest on sides and belly, where it 

 shades into cream-buff. Black spots on back circular in outline, 

 three-quarters of an inch in diameter, interspaced with numerous 

 smaller black spots causing the black color to predominate over the 

 ground color on the back. The spots on the sides are larger but less 

 numerous and cover a smaller area than the ground color. The legs 

 and underparts are marked by oblong black spots. The feet are 

 marked by irregular black spots, the forefeet more numerously than 

 the hind ones, and the base of the toes also show spots above, but the 

 hair on the underside is dusky-brown. Tail marked by large black 

 spots above and black rings below, with the terminal portion ringed 

 all around with black and pale buffy rings, the tip whitish. The crown 

 of the head and the nape are marked by small black spots as far 

 forward as the interorbital region. The whole snout from the eyes 

 is uniform ochraceous and banded on the sides by the heavy black 

 tear band from the eyes to the mouth. The sides of the head from 

 eye to ear base are marked irregularly by small black spots without 

 any suggestion of a line from eye to base of ear. The chin and the 

 upper throat are whitish or cream-buff in color. The back of the 

 ears are chiefly black, only the tips and the inner side being buffy. 

 Hair of nape longer than on rest of body and forming a short mane 

 from head to behind the shoulders. Hair on median line of breast 

 and belly long and mane-like in character. The ventral surface of 

 the tail is marked along its whole length by a broad mane or ruff of 

 longer hair, tip of tail long haired, and somewhat tuft like. 



Measurements. — The flesh measurements of the type are : head and 

 body, 1,300 mm.; tail, 740; hindfoot, 300; ear, 80. Skull: greatest 

 length, 179; condylo-basal length, 163; zygomatic breadth, 136; 

 nasals, 56x31 ; interorbital width, 40; post-orbital constriction, 59; 

 width across post-orbital processes, 82; length of upper carnasial, 

 23 ; width of mesopterygoid fossa at suture, 25.5 ; condylo-basal 

 length of mandible, 124. Skull aged, the sphenoidal and occipital 

 sutures obliterated by anchyloses. 



