KUNQL. SV. VET. AKADEMIENS HANDLINGAR. BAND 48. N:0 5. 



41 



of the crossing of the Marsabit-road, are decidedly more brown and less ochraceous 

 than specimens a and &. 



Specimens c and d agree nearly with regard to their colour with Elliot's de- 

 scription of P. furax from Baringo and Nandi. The general colour tends to seal brown 

 and the rings of the hair are decidedly paler than in the other specimens. The tail 

 appears to be rather short, about 44 cm. (without hair) in the male. 



It must nevertheless be admitted that the difference is not very great, at most 

 of subspecific value, and, perhaps, I should not have been inclined to go even so 

 far if not other members of the fauna as well had proved to be different above 

 and below Chanler Falls. There are thus different races of Rhynchotragus and Procavia 

 {Heterohyrax) in the corresponding two localities (conf. below). 



There ought also to be said a few words in explanation of the degradation of 

 P. furax to a subspecies. This has been done, because some of the cranial characte- 

 ristics especially enumerated by Elliot have been proved by the present material 

 to be variable. Elliot says that the rostrum is » broader* in furax than in doguera. 

 This measurement increases considerably with age and is 7 V^ t^too.. larger in a than 

 in 6, although even the latter is fully adult, and both hail from the same herd. It 

 is true that these specimens are not real P. furax but very near relatives and stand- 

 ing, as will be seen later on, between that race and doguera, and then the same 

 laws for changes with age may refer to furax as well. The distance between the 

 last molar and the posterior border of the palate is also very much increased with 

 age as can be seen from the table of measurements. The pit on the side of the 

 upper jaw is very different in the specimens a and b being much more pronounced 

 in the latter which proves that this is not a specific character. The zygomatic width 

 is often rather variable and apt to increase with age when the musculature is more 

 powerfully developed. 



Considering all these facts I think it is most suitable to regard furax only as 

 a geographic subspecies of P. anubis. 



Total length 



Oocipitonasal length 



Basicranial » 



Zygomatic width 



Palatal length (inside between median incisors) 



Width of braincase 



Least postorbital width 



Interorbital width - 



Length of nasals 



K. Sv. Vet. Akad. Handl. Band 48. N:o 5. 



