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REPORT ON THE MAMMALS OF MESOPOTAMIA 

 Collected by members of the Mesopotamia n 



EXPEDITIONARY FORCE, 1915 TO 1919. 

 BY 



Major R. E. Cheesman, m.b.o.u., f.r.g.s. 



Mr. Oldfield Thomas conferred a privilege when he invited me to write 

 this paper. Both he and Mr. R. C. Wroughton have combined in making 

 the task a light and pleasant one. It has been necessary for me to ply 

 them with a continual hail of questions throughout and to their patient 

 guidance must be attributed any merit the paper may possess. To the 

 rest of the staff in the mammal room of the British Museum Natural 

 History I also acknowledge a debt of gratitude for valuable assistance. 



The collection comprises 259 specimens of 36 different species and sub- 

 species. Nine have already proved new to science. Several more are 

 awaiting further material, and are only provisionally placed under the 

 name of their nearest ally. 



It may be said, that ' awaiting further material ' often recurs in the notes. 

 A lot of confusion is caused by the hasty naming of species and sub-species, 

 on slight differences of colour or proportions, which afterwards prove to 

 be mere individual variation and are not constant. It seems preferable 

 to err on the side of caution. 



The collection consists entirely of mammals contributed by members of 

 the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force. It has therefore an historic- 

 interest as well as a scientific value. 



Many of the specimens were collected very close to the enemy's lines 

 and some must have been skinned within range of his guns. The acqui- 

 sition of such a good series imder the diffici-lties attending service 

 conditions is largely due to the encouragement ij,iven to all Officers inter- 

 ested in birds, beasts and fi&hes, by the officials of the Bombay Natural 

 History Society, who in spite of the many calJs on their time during the 

 War, always managed to acknowledge and identify the specimens sent. 



Again a factor that played no small part, is the able pamphlet, " Notes 

 on the Animals of Mesopotamia", written by Capt. N. B. Kinnear in 

 1916 and circulated at an opportune ir: ment. 



To all interested in Natural Histoiy, that is the large majority of Officers 

 and men in Mesopotamia, this 1 as been a treasured book of reference. 

 To those who were collecting it has proved invaluable. I have taken it 

 throughout the writing of this paper as the framework to which the 

 present notes on the s; ecimens obtained must be considered as a sup- 

 plement. 



To Major-Glen. Tir P. Z. Cox, and Lieut.-Col. A. T. Wilson, 1 was 

 personally indebted while on service for much timely assistance, for the 

 loan of a gun and for facilities of transport of specimens down river and 

 . n to India. Without this many of my skins would either never have 

 boon collected or have been spoilt or even lost en route. 



All my specimens have been united under the name of the Cox-Cheesman 

 collection. For the help given me by all my senior officers in Mesopotamia 

 I would like to express my appreciation. They have always been ready to 

 smooth the way for collecting when possible and to read " King's Regu- 

 lations" in their widest interpretation to that end. 



