341 



A NEW MARMOT FROM CHITRAL. 



By Oldfield Thomas. 

 (Published by iiermission of the Trtistees of the British Museum.) 



By the kindness of the authorities of the Bombay Natural Historj- 

 Society 1 have been entrusted with the determination of a Marmot 

 obtained at Ohitral by Capt. H. 0. Stirling, and presented by him 

 to the Society. 



The species is the smallest of the group of Golden Marmots, of 

 which the handsome Marmota caudata of Kashmir is the largest and 

 best-known member. The new form may be described as follows : — 



Marmota stirlinfji, sp. n. 



Size smallest of the group. General colour approximating to the- 

 rich orange-tawny found in il/. littledalei, distinctlj^ more tawnj^ than 

 in aurea and flavina. Fur of back smoky brown at base, then be- 

 coming, for the terminal half of the wool-hairs, ochraceous buff',, 

 beyond which again the larger hairs darken to ochraceous tawny^ 

 their extreme tips black. Below, the fur is more broadty brown at 

 the base than in the allied foi-ms, the buff}^ tips of the hairs not 

 hiding their brown bases, so that the colour may be said to be brown 

 washed with buffy ; in the other species there is little or no brown 

 on the buffy hairs. Sides of neck and shoulders grizzled greyish,. 

 the long hairs black with buffy subterminal rings. Top of muzzle 

 with a distinct black patch ; crown grizzled buffy, nape ochraceous- 

 tawny like back. Arms and legs rich golden buffy. Hands and 

 feet similar, some black hairs at the bases of the claws. Tail for its- 

 basal three-fourths buffy, with brownish bases to the hairs, the 

 terminal fourth blackish brown. 



Skull smaller than in other members of the grouiD, the molars- 

 distinctly lighter. 



No flesh measurements available; hindfoot, dried, 72 mm. 



Skull, distance from back of postorbital process to lambdoid 

 crest 37; zygomatic breadth 53-4; intertemporal breadth 17-4;. 

 upper tooth-row 20; front of p^ to back of m" 17-5; breadth of 

 p^ 4-6; lower tooth -row 19' 3. 



Habitat.— Chitval. Type from " head of Chitrol Nullah, 11, 000'.'" 



Tyjje. — Adult male. B. M. No. 15.7.1.10. Original uimiber 5.. 

 Collected April 1914, by Capt. H. D. Stirling. Presented to the 

 National Museum b}^ the Bomba}'- Natm^al Histor}- Society. 



This species is distinguished from the other members of the group 

 by its smaller size, the greyish grizzling of the sides of the neck and 

 shoulders, and the greater amount of brown on the belly. 



On examining all the members of this group of marmots I find 

 that Marmota littledalei, the Pamir Marmot, is more closely allied to. 



