KUNGL. SV. VBT. AKADBMIENS HANDLINGAR. BAND 58. NIO 2- 



51 



rterra ombra naturale chiara » and in another place as obrunastre con tendenza all' 



olivastro », which appears to differ considerably from the general colour of the Leopard 

 from Kabare. To judge from Camerano's figure the rings on the flanks are much 

 heavier, black with comparatively small centres. Also in other places the black spots or 

 rosettes are heavier, and the spots on the tail are roundish. As Leopards vary a great 

 deal individually this difference may perhaps not be fundamental, but for the present 

 they appear to exclude an identifi- 



cation. On the other hand this Mu- 

 seum received in the year 1905 the 

 skin of a very large Leopard which 

 Lieutenant Karl Eriksson had col- 

 lected in the interior of Belgian Congo. 

 This skin is more similar to that from 

 Kabare, and has large ring-like ro- 

 settes some of which have, as in the 

 Jaguar, central spots, sometimes even 

 4 such in a ring.' 



The length of the unstretched 

 softened skin from Kabare is from 

 snout to vent 150 cm., and the length 

 of the tail is 84 cm. If the latter is 

 laid forward over the back, it does 

 not reach the shoulders, and it is thus 

 short. It is, however, not so short as 

 in the Ruwenzori Leopard in which 

 it only measures 68 cm. according to 

 Camerano. In the latter subspecies 

 the end of the tail has longer hairs on 

 its distal fourth so that it almost ap- 

 pears somewhat bushy on the figure. 

 The Leopard from Kabare has also 

 longer hairs (26 — ^2.8 mm. )on the distal 

 part of the tail than at the proximal 

 (15 — 16 mm.), but this appears less 



pronounced. — It must here be kept in mind, that all Leopards have the hairs on the 

 distal portion of the tail longer than on the proximal parts, although it often is little 

 visible. 



The young Leopards from Rutshuru must be supposed to belong to the same race 

 as the one from Kabare, and it is therefore of interest to state that even in such young 

 specimens the rings are quite well developed and defined all over the flanks, which ap- 

 pears rather early, but it proves that this pattern is fairly constant in these parts of Africa. 



The skull of the Kabare Leopard indicates an adult, but not very old animal, be- 

 cause the basal suture is still open. Considering this the dimensions of the skull prove 



Fig. 4. A piece of skin from the left flank of Felis pardua centralis. 



