MR. a. BUSK OK THE EXISTING SPECIES OF HTiElSrA.. 73 



Society, viz. : — H. striata, H. hrminea, and two specimens of H. 

 crocuta, one from Soutli Africa, and the other, a more recent 

 acquisition, from the west coast of Africa. I have attentively- 

 observed these two animals, which are both males, though doubt- 

 less of different ages, and am unable to perceive any difference 

 between them, except in colour. The one from South Africa is 

 generally much darker-coloured and browner, especially on the 

 back and legs, and, owing perhaps to this universal darker hue, 

 the spots are not so well defined as they are in his neighbour ; 

 and they appear to me to be rather smaller and less angular in 

 outline than in the specimen from the West Coast. The hair 

 also is somewhat longer, especially on the ears, in the South 

 African form. But in the shape and size of the ears, and in ge- 

 neral habit and stature, there is no difference whatever between 

 the two animals. In both the tail is equally short, although the 

 West African Hyena in this instance seems to have the habit of 

 carrying his caudal appendage turned up. The animals are 

 clearly of the same species. 



There are no sufficient grounds, therefore, as it seems to me, at 

 present for believing that Schreber's long-tailed Hyena was more 

 than an instance of an individual peculiarity, even if its length 

 of tail were not due merely to inadvertence on the part of the 

 draughtsman. We have still therefore to seek for further evi- 

 dence of a more decided nature to determine the question of the 

 number of species or well-marked varieties of "Spotted Hyena." 

 Having no other materials for the purpose, I have sought for this 

 evidence in the cranium and teeth, with the results I am about 

 briefly to detail. 



I have already stated that the British Museum collection con- 

 tains five crania belonging to the subgenus Crocuta. But of 

 these, two, viz. nos. 1232» and 12325, differ so widely at first 

 sight from the others, and more especially from those numbered 

 822 a and 822 &, as even after considerable study to have led 

 excellent observers to conclude that they belonged to distinct 

 species. A third cranium, presenting exactly similar characters 

 to nos. 1282 a and 1232 h, exists in the Hunterian Museum. It 

 forms part of the skeleton of the Hyaena crocuta formerly in the 

 possession of the late Dr. Buckland (No. M46, E. C. S.). 



For convenience I propose to denote these three crania as H. 

 crocuta, A, and the other two as H. crocuta, B ; and the compara- 

 tive measurements of the two forms will be found in columns II. 

 and V. of Table V. Inspection of the figures in these columns 



