S3< JOURXAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI. 



K;i3inpfer"s figure of the Persian Gulf Jackal (1712) 

 • on which Linna;iis based his Canis aureus (17.o6). 



After trying for several years, our Society has at last succeeded in obtainino; 

 two specimens from Bunder Abbas, which it has presented to the National 

 Collection, and which may, I think, be confidently accepted as topotypes. 



Basing on these it appears that the true aureus of S. Persia differs 

 considerably from the Indian Jackal. The bases of the hairs, in the 

 former are white, while in the latter, they are yellow or some shade of 

 brown. The face and ears (externally) of all Indian Jackals which I have 

 seen are bright tawny, while in the Persian Gulf aureus the face is grizzled 

 buff and black and the ears are pinkish-buff. 



In their skulls the two forms differ but little. In the Indian form, how- 

 ever, the teeth between the carnassial and the canine (upper) have spaces 

 between them, while in true aureus they touch one another and even to a 

 slight extent overlap. The result of this in the living animal must be 

 that the Indian Jackal has a longer muzzle, which is just what would have 

 been expected by anyone familiar with dog-breeding in India. 



I give here for easy reference a comparative table of some skull 

 measurements : — 



