40 ON MAMMALS FROM SI AM. [Jan. 14, 



8, Lepus siamensis, sp. n. 



Lepxis sp. inc. Flower, P. Z. S. 1900, p. 365; Bonh. P. Z. S. 

 1901, p. 56. 



General colour above fulvous and dark brown, the latter colour 

 becoming absent on the hind-quarters and flanks, where the 

 fvilvous is slightly tinged with rufous. The whole of the under- 

 parts except the lower neck and chest pure white, the line of 

 demarcation being sharply defined. The neck, chest, and limbs 

 are fulvous of varying shades, the colour being deepest on the 

 fore legs, where it is tinged with rufous, and palest on the inner 

 sides of the hind limbs, where it becomes nearly white. Each 

 hair is dull white or greyish at the base, shading into dark brown 

 (seal-brown, Ridgw.^) and having a broad subterminal fulvous 

 (buff, Ridgw.) annulation. 



On the head the fulvous becomes deeper in colour, and there is 

 an ill-defined whitish stripe running from the nostril to the front 

 of the eye on either side. 



The ears, which are but scantily clothed with hair on their 

 outer posterior surface, resemble on the anterior surface the 

 general colour of the back, although the darker tint predominates. 

 The outer anterior and posterior margins are white. At the tip 

 the inner surface is clothed with pure fulvous hairs, while on the 

 external surface the hairs are dark brown. 



The tail is dark brown above throughout its length and white 

 underneath, with a slight tinge of bufi" on the sides. 



The skull resembles most neai^y that of L. peguensis, from 

 which it differs chiefly in the muzzle being slightly broader at its 

 base. The basioccipital bulges outwards and downwards on 

 either side instead of having its sides parallel, thus causing the 

 buUse to appear at first sight somewhat smaller. The skull as a 

 whole is, moreover, rather larger. Comparing the grooves on the 

 vipper incisors with those figured in Dr. Forsyth Major's paper 

 (Trans. Linn. Soc, 2nd ser. Zool. vol. vii. p. 468, 1899), it appears 

 to be most nearly allied to L. hainanus, although somewhat in- 

 termediate between it and L. dayanus. The gToove in the species 

 under consideration is moderately broad and nearly rectangular, 

 with a small rounded process jutting out at about the centre of 

 the outer margin. 



Dimensio7is of type {in flesh). Head and body 435 mm. ; tail 

 66 ; hind foot 95 ; ear 82. 



Skull. Greatest length 86; breadth of palate at 1st molar 13; 

 length 1st premolar to outer edge of incisors 27 ; greatest breadth 

 of brain-case 30. 



Hab. Siam. 



Type. B.M. 1.7.7.13. S ad. Chiengmai, 16th Feb., 1901. 



This fine species is most nearly allied to L. hainamis Swinhoe, 

 from which it is easily distinguished by its greater size and the 



1 Eidgway, 'Nomenclature of Colours,' Boston, 1886. 



