NO. 19 CARNIVORES AND BABOON'S FROM AFRICA — HELLER 9 



Remarks. — Twelve adult specimens of this race are in the National 

 Museum, nine from the Loita Plains, two from Laikipia Plateau 

 north of Mount Kenia and one from the Uasin Gishu Plateau. The 

 latter specimen has an extremely long skull measuring in greatest 

 length 200 mm., and exceeding in size any other cheetah skull ex- 

 amined. One other male skull from the Loita Plains attains a length 

 of 190 mm. These dimensions would indicate that the British East 

 African or highland cheetah is the largest of the races. The series 

 is quite uniform in coloration and distinguishable from raineyi by 

 the darker color and more numerous spots on the back which pre- 

 dominate in area and give the whole a general dark coloration. 



ACINONYX JUBATUS RAINEYI, new subspecies 

 Rainey African Cheetah 



Type from Ulu, Kapiti Plains, British East Africa ; adult male, 

 Cat. No. 182321, U. S. Nat. Mus. ; shot by Paul J. Rainey, Oct. 13, 

 191 1 ; original (Heller) No. 2639. 



Characters. — Acinonyx jubatus raineyi is a pale colored, short 

 haired race of the African cheetah having a light pinkish-buff dorsal 

 ground color and large blackish spots. It resembles most closely in 

 characters soemmeringii of Kordofan and the Lake Tchad region, 

 but may be distinguished by its much larger dorsal spots, lighter 

 ground color and the spotted hind feet. From its nearest geographical 

 ally, velox, it may be distinguished by the light dorsal ground color 

 with its pinkish suffusion, fewer dark spots and less distinctly spotted 

 hindfeet. 



Coloration of the type. — The ground color is pale pinkish-buff, 

 darkest on midline, where it is ochraceous-buff, and paling on the 

 underparts to cream color. Body and legs marked uniformly by 

 round black spots three-quarters of an inch in diameter, interspersed 

 by occasional small spots or dots. Spots on legs and belly elongate in 

 shape ; legs spotted to the toes, the forefeet much more conspicuously 

 than the hind ones in which the spots are small or indistinct near the 

 toes. The toes are much spotted above and pinkish-buff like the 

 ground color, but below they are clothed by dusky-drab hair. Tail 

 spotted like the back with the terminal one-fourth marked by five 

 black rings, the extreme tip whitish. Top of head and nape marked 

 by numerous small black spots, but the snout is uniform ochraccou- 

 buff without spots and sharply defined on the sides by a black tear 

 stripe extending from the eye to the mouth, just behind whiskers, 

 and passing backward to the angle of the mouth. The sides of the 



