6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 6l 



the dorsal spots are larger, the largest fully twice the size of the spots 

 in fisi and the pelage is longer and heavier. The Somaliland race 

 ruHpicta differs decidedly by having reddish rather than blackish 

 spots, darker ground color and smaller body size. 



Coloration. — Ground color of the type pale buff spotted irregularly 

 over the back by rather small black spots varying in diameter from 

 a quarter to three-fourths of an inch, and covering an area only about 

 one-quarter that of the ground color. Spots heaviest and most dis- 

 tinct on mid line of the back and faintest on the neck, sides of the 

 body, underparts, and shoulders ; the head and feet unspotted. The 

 tail is basally like the back in color with a few dark spots, the termi- 

 nal one-half being covered by a bushy black tuft of longer coarse hair. 

 The feet are uniform olive-brown to the toes in contrast to the spotted 

 upper portions of the legs. The head is grizzled buffy and blackish 

 on the crown and sides, the snout, muzzle, lips and chin being uni- 

 form dusky black in contrast. The whiskers and the long hairs above 

 the eyes are black. The throat and sides of the head below the ear 

 are uniform light buff without darker spots. The back of the ears 

 show a grizzled appearance due to the scantiness of the short buffy 

 hair which allows the blackish skin to show through. The ears on the 

 inner side are more heavily clothed by longer whitish hair. The hair 

 is short, the length on the rump being only one-half of an inch. The 

 nape is furnished with a short mane of uniform light buff color in 

 which the longest hairs have a length of two inches. 



Measurements. — The flesh measurements of the type were : head 

 and body, 1,150 mm.; tail, 295; hindfoot, 225; ear, 100. The skull 

 measures : condylo-basal length, 250 ; greatest length, 256 ; zygomatic 

 breadth, 156; breadth of palate across carnasials, 98 ; length of upper 

 tooth row including canine, 95 ; length of lower tooth row including 

 canine, 102 ; length of upper carnasial on outside edge, 35 ; inter- 

 orbital width, 58; post-orbital width, 47; width across post-orbital 

 processes, 74; nasals, 54 x 27; width of mesopterygoid fossa at 

 suture, 26; condylo-basal length of mandible, 176. The skull is that 

 of a young adult having the sphenoidal and parietal sutures still 

 evident. No skull difference has been detected between this race and 

 germinans owing to the great individual variation to which this 

 structure is subject. Both narrow and wide types of skulls are found 

 in specimens from the same locality and every intermediate stage 

 between these. The female skulls exceed the male decidedly in size. 



Remarks. — The desert region lying between Mount Marsabit and 

 the Northern Guaso Nyiro River is represented in the National Mu- 



