EULAGOS 249 



Group EULAGOS. 



British Hares fall into two groups, distinct in origin, 

 structure, and habits. 



The first, for which Gray's name Eulagos (1867) seems 

 to be available, includes L. mediterraneus, L. europcsus, L. 

 granatensis, with their allies, and probably a number of Old- 

 World hares other than the varying hares as differentiated 

 below. In Eulagos the head is smaller, the eyes less prominent, 

 the ears and tail longer, and the limbs, especially the fore, 

 shorter. The pelage is coarse, not woolly, without marked 

 Juvenal or post-juvenal changes, the whiskers are long and 

 coarse, the upper side of the tail is black, and there is a 

 conspicuous autumnal moult. There are only six mammae. 



In the skull, as exemplified by L. europcsus, the brain-case 

 is narrower and deeper than in L. timidus, the frontal region is 

 not concave, and the superciliary processes are but little raised 

 above the level of the skull, so that the profile of the cranium 

 is fully arched. The nasals are large, their greatest length, as 

 a rule, considerably exceeding that of the median frontal suture. 

 The anterior portion of each zygoma is relatively shallower, 

 the distance from the anterior termination of the groove on the 

 outer surface to the front edge of the arch being greater than 

 the least depth. 



In the teeth the upper incisors are broader, more curved, 

 and their roots do not extend beyond the premaxillo- 

 maxillary sutures. The posterior upper premolars are short, 

 their height measured from crown to extreme upper point of 

 root-capsule within the orbit being less than the alveolar length 

 of the tooth-row, instead of being greater, as in the varying 

 hares of the group Lepus. 



The mandible is characterised by its relatively low dimen- 

 sion of height, a consequence of the shorter molar crowns, 

 by the slightly broader incisors, and by the ventrally broad 

 symphysial region, which has its inner margin sharp, instead 

 of rounded, as in the varying hares. 



The differences between the skulls and teeth of europceus 

 and timidus are discussed by Hinton {Sci. Proc. Roy. Dublin 



VOL. II. R 



