1S77.] anila Hahlchlddn Fox, 317 



name. I propose therefore to call it, from the ancient name of the country 

 it inhabits. 



Uesus Gedrosianus, sp. nov. 



Syn. U. sp. (?? Melursus lahiatus) Zoology of Persia, p. 47. 



Ursus minor, Irunneus, torriue pectorali alhido, pilis hreviitsculis in- 

 dutus, wigioihus hrevihios. Loncjitiido tota vix ([uinriuG pedes : unjibihus sin- 

 gularihus in pede antico sesqui-pollicaribus. 



The colouration is nearly uniform, being a dark rufous brown, much 

 the same as the ordinary tint of European individuals of U. arctos. The 

 shoulders and the outside of the limbs appear to be darker than the 

 back, the belly paler. On the breast there is a narrow white semicircular 

 collar, the ends of which are not j)i'olonged upwards in front of the shoul- 

 ders as in TT. isahellinus ; the muzzle is whitish and the extremity of the 

 chin white. The ears are not preserved. The claws are dark coloured, 

 (several have been lost,) the inner claw on the fore foot measures i'Q inches 

 in a straight line from base to tip, the second claw on the hind foot 1*25 

 in the same manner. The sole of the hind foot, somewhat dried and con- 

 tracted of course, measures 7 inches, and the whole skin, which has been 

 dressed, but apparently not stretched, is about 4i\ feet long from nose to 

 rump. 



The fur, though not very coarse, is harsh and stiff, the hair is about 

 2\ inches long on the shoulders, but not more than 1^ elsewhere. The 

 hairs are rather thin, probably from the animal having been killed in the 

 hot season. Major Mockler writes to me that he is endeavouring to pro- 

 cure a better specimen and a skull, and I hojie that it will be possible 

 before long to give a more complete description of this bear and its affinities. 



Concerning the range of U. Gedrosianus, it appears to be found 

 throughout the hills of Baluchistan to the foot of the Persian highlands. 

 When travelling through western Baluchistan in 1872, Major St. John 

 learned that the pale coloured Syrian bear replaces the dark Baluchistan 

 animal near Bam inNarmashir. To the west, as already noticed, the ' Mamh' 

 is found in all the higher hills of western Sind, from the neighbourhood 

 of the sea to the Bolan pass, and it probably occurs throughout Kelat. To 

 the northward we know very little about bears ; none are mentioned by Hut- 

 ton in his ' Rough notes on the Zoology of Candahar,' J. A. S. B. XIV, 

 p. 340, &c., and we have no precise information as to the kind which in- 

 habits Afghanistan, except that Burnes (Cabool, p. 163), says it is of a 

 reddish brown colour, which renders it possible that the species may be 

 identical with that found in Baluchistan. 



Before describing a fox, of which two specimens were sent by Major 

 Mockler with the skin just described, it may be as well to give a descrip- 



