72 MB. G. BUSK ON THE EXISTING SPECIES OE HT.^NA. 



In a Paper under the title of " Tillagg om Sliigtet Hy^ua," or 

 " Supplement respecting the genus Jlycena^'' which seems to have 

 been intended as an Appendix to Thunberg's immediately pre- 

 ceding paper, in which H. hrunnea is described, S. Cdmann enu- 

 merates four existing species of Hycena, viz. : — 



1. Hycsna fasciata. 



2. H.. crocuta. 



3. H. maculata. 



4. H. hrunnea. 



The distinctive characters he gives of H. crocuta and H. macu- 

 lata are : — 



1. H. crocuta, rufo-fusca, maculis triqiietris vel oblongis, nigris, 

 Cauda elongata. 



And the synonyms he assigns to it are : — 

 Crocuta (sive) " congener Hysenje," Ludolphus, Hist, .^thiop. 

 L. 1. cap. 10. § 51. 



Ganis crocuta, Schreber. 



2. H. maculata, ferrugineo-fusca, maculis distinetis nigris, cauda 

 brevi. 



Syn. Pennant's " Spotted Hyena." 



The Tiger Wolf of the Cape Colonists, Sfc. 

 The principal grounds adduced by Odmann in favour of this 

 distinction between the two forms of " Spotted Hyena " appear to 

 be derived from the description given of it by Schreber*, who, at 

 first having doubted whether Pennant's "Spotted Hyena" was 

 mure than a variety of H. striata, was afterwards satisfied of the 

 contrary by the receipt of a drawing accompanied with a descrip- 

 tion taken from a living specimen of a " Spotted Hyena." But 

 this drawing and description differed in the points above indi- 

 cated from the figure and description given by Pennant ; and as 

 both are said to have been described and figured from nature, 

 Odmann conceived that it was impossible two such dissimilar 

 animals should belong to the same species. I have not, however, 

 as yet met with any zoologist who is acquainted with a long- 

 tailed "Spotted Hyena;" and with respect to the shape of the 

 spots and the varying tints of colour, these characters would 

 not seem sufficient in the absence of more fixed ones to justify 

 us in making two species out of Hycena crocuta. And with 

 reference to this I may state that there are at the present 

 time four living Hyenas in the gardens of the Zoological 

 * Saugethiere, T. iii. p. 374. tab. xcvi. B, Canis crocuta. 



