MAMMALIA. 



61 



The following are the dimensions of the skull in the Kium specimen : — ■ 





Metre. 



Inches. 



Length of skull from occiput to front of incisors 



0-92 



3-63 



Greatest breadth of skull across posterior portion of zygomatic 







arches .......... 



•044 



1-73 





•026 



1-02 





•037 



1-46 





•017 



0-68 



Do. do. in front ....... 



•014 



0-55 



From base of hinder upper incisor to foremost molar . 



•027 



1-06 



Length of the row of upper molars taken together at base 



•018 



0-63 



Do. of palate behind anterior palatine openings . 



•007 



0-27 



Breadth of palate between 3rd pair of molars .... 



•012 



0-5 



Length of lower jaw from angle to symphysis 



•062 



2-46 





•040 



1-59 



The specimen in the collection of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (now in the Indian 

 Museum), which was identified by Mr. Blyth with L. pallipes, belongs evidently to the 

 same species as the skins collected by Dr. Stoliczka in Ladak. This specimen was, I believe, 

 presented by Captain Smyth, who collected in the Western Himalaya and in Western Tibet, 

 but the name of the donor is omitted in Mr. Blyth's catalogue. 



I was at first disposed to identify this hare with L. pallipes, Hodgson, and I included it 

 under this name, though with a mark of doubt, in the list of Dr. Stoliczka 's collections, 

 J. A. S. B., 1875, p. 109. After this list was published, however, I received from Mr. 

 Mandelli, of Darjiling, specimens of a hare which I have no hesitation in identifying with 

 the true L. pallipes, and I found them to differ, both in the skins and skull, from the present 

 species. I consequently described the Western Tibetan form as L. hypsibius. 1 



The differences between the two species are that the fur in L. hypsibius is denser and 

 longer on the tarsi, and less woolly on the back ; the size is larger, but the ears in proportion 

 considerably shorter, and rather differently coloured. The dark band on the anterior portion 

 of the ears, and the whitish posterior surface, are more developed in L. pallipes, and the 

 inner surface is whiter. The general colouration of L. hypsibius is much more rufous. In 

 the skull of L. hypsibius the teeth are larger, the palatal opening narrower behind, the 

 forehead less concave, and the posterior portion of the nasals differently shaped. 



L. hypsibius appears to be found throughout a considerable tract in Western Tibet, 

 keeping always to considerable elevations, but the relative distribution of this and the other 

 Tibetan hares is very imperfectly known. 



There is a bare possibility that this may be the L. oiostolus 2 of Hodgson, described 

 from young specimens, and stated by its describer to be found in Ladak 3 ; but I think it is 

 not the same, for young specimens of Lepus pallipes agree much better with Mr. Hodgson's 

 description. The ears of L. oiostolus are said by Waterhouse 4 to be similarly coloured 

 with those of L. tibetanus. This is not the case in L. hypsibius. 



1 The name in this case, as in that of Mus sublimis, is given on account of the high elevation at which the species is found 

 living. 



2 J. A. S. B., ix, 1840, p. 1186. 



3 J. A. S. B., xi, 1842, p. 288. 



4 Eodentia, p. 62. 



