G76 AFRICAN CATS RECENTLY IN THK SOCIETY'S GARDENS. T June 18, 



Witliin the last few years the Hociety has received several 

 examples both yoiuig and adult of this race ^namely, two cubs of 

 about a month old from Sierra Leone, presented by Majoi- Pearce, 

 R.A.M.C, F.Z.S., one haJf-grown specimen from Ashanti pre- 

 sented by Mr. R. Higham, and one full-grown animal from 

 Jaman (Ashanti) presented by Mr. F. 0. Fuller. All ai-e very 

 uniformly coloured, and are of a peculiar dusky shade Avhich 

 differs markedly from the golden tawny hue of most Indian 

 specimens. This dusky efiect is produced by a combination of 

 two causes, namelj^ by the greyer hue of the interspaces or 

 ground-colour and by the closeness of the spots, the interspaces 

 being narrower than the spots and forming what might be 

 described as a relatively narrow reticulated pattern. Quite distinct 

 in appearance from these West African Leopards is one now 

 living in the Gardens, which was brought by Mr. F. H. Melland 

 from the Luangwe Valley in N.E. Rhodesia, (north of the 

 Zambesi). This is of the yellow type, like typical Indian 

 Leopards, but the pattern is less definite than in any of the 

 Oi'iental and West African specimens now possessed by the Society, 

 that is to say the component elements of the so-called I'osettes are 

 less consolidated. In this respect the specimen shows an approxi- 

 mation to the type of pattern obsei'ved in the (rirahamstown 

 Leopards recorded by Dr. Glinther in the paper above referred 

 to* (P. Z. S. 1885, p. 243, pi. xvi. ; id. op. cit. 1886, p. 203, fig.). 



I do not think it is possible to find any one character for dis- 

 tinguishing the skins of African Leopards from those of Asiatic 

 Leopards as a whole, unless it l)e that African Leopai-ds ai-e more 

 closely spotted, especially upon the nape of the neck. It is not 

 true, as has been stated, that they may be distinguished by the 

 presence of rot-ette-spots upon the shoulders and neck in Asiatic 

 animals, and of solid spots on those areas in Afiican animals. 

 Small rosette -sjiots are observable upon the neck of the Leopards 

 from Jebba and Ashanti already mentioned ; whereas in two 

 examples from Ceylon and the Centiul Provinces of India, that 

 were recently living in the Gardens, the spots on the neck were all 

 solid. 



African Leopards never apparently exhibit the large rosettes 

 seen in some Asiatic animals, especially in the Chinese Felis 

 pardics fontanieri. Some Asiatic Leopards indeed are almost, 

 perhaps quite, intermediate in pattern between some African 

 Leopards and Jaguars. On geographical grounds one would 

 expect this to be the case ; for the Jaguar is beyond all doubt in 

 my opinion an American Leopard, in the sense that the Leopard 

 and the Jaguar are much more nearly related to one another than 



* I do not know b\' what lacial title this Leopard from N.E. Rhodesia should 

 be known. Neumann has given the subspecific name suahelica to what he calls the 

 large spotted S. African Leopard of which he saw skins from North Ugog'o, Uganda, 

 and elsewhere. This description does not, however, apply to Mr. Mellaud's specimen. 

 Nor do the characters of the latter animal agree with those of JP. pardus nimr 

 Ehrenb., which according to Neumann is a grey form inhabiting the coast of the Red 

 Sea, and resembling the Persian F. pardus ttiUiana in tint (Zool. Jahrb., Syst. 

 xiii. p. 552, 1900). 



