80 MR. R. LYDEKKER ON WILD SHEEP FROM [June 3, 



The following papers were read : — 



1. The Wild Sheep o£ the Upper Hi and Yana Valleys. 

 By R. Lydekker. 



[Received April 5, 1902.J 

 (Plates VII. &■ VIII.' and Text-figures 14 & 15.) 



Among several other valuable specimens from the same locality, 

 Mr. St. George Littledale has recently presented to the British 

 Museum the head of a male Wild Sheep of the Argali group 

 (PI. VII. fig. 17), as well as the entire skin of a. second individual 

 of the same species, killed in one of the tributaries of the Hi 

 Valley on the northern flank of the eastei-n Thian-Shaii, some 

 distance to the south-east of Kuldja or Hi. Both specimens are 

 in the winter-coat ; and the head is now mounted and exhibited 

 in the lower mammal gallery. 



As soon as the head was placed in its present position it became 

 apparent that it could not be identified with any of the forms 

 of Wild Sheep exhibited in the gallery, and as it is necessary 

 that it should be named, I lay before the Society the present notes. 

 It may be premised that, being unable to identify this sheep 

 with any named form, I have given it a new subspecific name. 

 This name must, however, be regarded as in some degree pro- 

 visional, since this sheep may turn out to be inseparable from 

 one of those named, but somewhat insufficiently described, by 

 Sevei-tzofl^. To settle this point requires a journey to Moscow, 

 which I am not at present prepai-ed to undertake. It may be 

 added that if the Hi sheep were identified with one of those 

 named by Severtzoff, it would pi'obably involve changing the 

 name Ovis sairensis, applied by myself a few years ago to a wild 

 sheep from the Saiar Mountains. 



Before proceeding further it may be well to mention that 

 Mr. Littledale has in his own possession the skull of the ivam 

 the skin of wdiich he has presented to the Museum. This skull, as 

 shown by the condition of its cheek-teeth, is that of a fully adult 

 individual. The horns are practically similar to those of the 

 Museum specimen, indicating that the latter is also fully adult, 

 as indeed might be inferred from its large size. A skull (text- 

 fig. 14), from Tarbagatai in the Altai, presented hj Mr. Littledale 

 in 1896 to the Museum (No. 96.2.6.9), agrees in the characters of 

 the hoi-ns with the last-mentioned specimen, and evidently belongs 

 to the same or a closely allied form. 



Comparing the Hi specimen with the heads of adult rams of 

 Ovis ammoit and 0. 2)oli in the collection of the Museum (of the 

 former of which a figure is given [text-fig. 15, p. 81] in order to 

 facilitate the comparison), it will be seen to differ markedly from 

 both in two respects. In the first place, instead of the entire 



1 For explanation of the Plates, see p. 85. 



