116 W. T. Blanford— On the species of Marmot [No. 3, 



I suppose there may be such a name in some editions of Griffith's Animal 

 Kingdom, though I cannot find it in the copy in the Society's library. In 

 any case, I have no doubt the species is really A. fulvus of Lichtenstein, 

 described in Eversman's ' Eeise nach Buchara,' p. 119. That species is a 

 SpermojpMlus and not a true Arctomys* and, consequently, is distinct from 

 all the Himalayan species, none of which, so far as is known, have cheek 

 pouches. 



The next point for consideration is what is Arctomys caudatus of 

 Jacquemont. As it is described as having a tail two thirds the length of 

 the body, it is evidently not A. bobac,f to which it is referred by Blyth, 

 Jerdon, and Anderson. It is clearly, on the other hand, the same as the 

 species referred by Anderson to A. Semachalanus. Anderson's specimen 

 agrees pretty fairly with Jacquemont's figure and description ; there is more ' 

 black on the back and tail in the former, and the abdomen wants the ferru- 

 ginous tint, but neither of these characters is constant. The localities 

 whence the two were procured are close together ; the marmot skin obtained 

 by Dr. Henderson and described by Dr. Anderson being from Matayon, 

 just north (on the Dras side) of the Zogi-laJ, between Srinagar and Leh ; 

 whilst Jacquemont's type was shot at a place which he called Gombour or 

 Gombur, close to the head of the Sind valley, but on the Indus side of the 

 watershed and in the valley of a stream running into the Dras river. 



There is a possibility of a second and smaller marmot being found in 

 the Kashmir ranges, for Vigne, Travels in Kashmir &c, II. p. 230, mentions 

 seeing one, as large as a small fox, on the road from Srinagar to Skardo. The 

 animal which I identify with A. caudatus is the size of a very large fox. 



A skin just received at the Indian Museum from Dr. Aitcheson at 

 Srinagar agrees with that described as A. Semachalanus by Dr. Anderson, 

 except that the back is blacker. Mr. Lydekker informs me that these skins 

 are precisely like those of all the marmots he saw on the ranges north of 

 Kashmir. 



Still, however, I am in no way prepared to admit that Dr. Anderson 

 was correct in identifying the Ladak marmot with Mr. Hodgson's A. Sema- 

 chalanus. The former is a large marmot, one of the largest known species, 

 the skull measuring 105 mm. (4. 12 inches) or as much as A. robustus. 

 Hodgson's A. Semachalanus on the contrary must be a small marmot, the 

 body being only 12 to 13 inches long, and the tail 5| to 5f, the corre- 

 sponding dimensions (taken from skins) of the Ladak marmot being 22 and 



* Brandt, Bull. Ac. Imp. Sc, 1844, II, p. 366. 



f This has teen noticed by MM. Milne-Edwards, Rech. Mam, I, p. 312. 

 + This name has been converted into Tooglen pass in the P. Z. S. 1871, 

 p. 562. 



