38 



SECOND YARKAND MISSION. 



entered at full length into the question of the synonymy of this and other Himalayan 

 marmots in the paper already mentioned, published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of 

 Bengal, 1 and need only recapitulate my conclusions here without entering into details. 



The " red marmot " appears to be the common species of Ladak, and certainly is that 

 of which the skins are usually obtained in Kashmir, but owing to the manner in which the 

 names of different marmots have been confused by various writers, it is almost impossible to 

 ascertain at present the relative distribution of this species and A. himalayanus, the " white 

 marmot " of Adams. Anderson identified skins from Sikkim with a typical specimen which 

 he described from the Zoji-la pass between Kashmir and Dras. This last specimen I have 

 examined, but the Sikkim specimens are not at present accessible. Froni a number of 

 enquiries, however, I believe it is highly improbable that Arctomys caudatus inhabits the 

 Eastern Himalayas, and if the specimens supposed to be from Sikkim are really A caudatus 

 the locality is almost certainly erroneous. 



Jacquemont's type was procured near the Zoji-la, at a place which he calls Gombour or 

 Gombur, close to the head of the Sind valley in Kashmir, but on the opposite watershed, that 

 of the Indus, and in the valley of a stream running into the Dras river. Dr. Anderson's 

 specimen was procured from probably the same locality by Dr. Henderson when accompany- 

 ing Mr. Eorsyth on his first expedition to Yarkand. 2 



Adams 3 distinguished the present species as the red marmot, which he called A bobac 

 of Schreber. 



Blyth 4 referred all the Himalayan marmots to one species, which, following Gray, 5 he also 

 called A bobac, Schreber. Jerdon 6 separated A hemachalanus, Hodgson's long-tailed marmot, 

 and gave as one of the native names Drim of Kashmir ; but he left the proper name for 

 the Drun, A caudatus, as a synonym of the short-tailed Himalayan marmot, his A bobac. 

 Anderson adopted Jerdon's synonymy. The true A hemachalanus of Hodgson, however, is a 

 much smaller species and differently coloured, so that Jacquemont's name must be preserved 

 for the " red marmot " of Kashmir and Ladak. 



Arctomys caudatus is one of the largest species of marmots, being nearly two feet long, 

 exclusive of the tail, which measures, with the hairs at the end, half as much more. The 

 general colour is yellowish tawny, more or less washed with black on the back, and with 

 all the underparts and linibs rusty red. In same specimens (males ?) the back is very much 

 blacker than in others, the hairs being dusky or black throughout, whilst other specimens 

 have only the tips of the hairs black. In the specimen brought from the Zoji-la by Dr. 

 Henderson, the fore-foot (palma) measures, without the claws, 2*3 inches, the hind-foot 

 3 "4, and the following are the measurements of the skull : — 





Metre. 



Inches. 



Length from occipital plane to anterior end of nasal bones . 



. -105 



4-12 



Breadth across widest part of zygomatic arches 



. -066 



2-6 



Do. behind postorbital processes ..... 



. -016 



0-63 





•042 



1-67 





. -020 



0-8 





, -017 



0-67 



Length of molars in upper jaw taken together 



. -0235 



0-95 



Length of lower jaw from angle to symphysis 



. -074 



2-93 



Height of do. at coronoid process .... 



. -041 



1-6 



1 Vol. xliv, 1875, Pt. 2, p. 113. 



2 Lahore to Yarkand, p. 38. 



3 P. Z. S. 1858, p. 521. 



4 Cat. Mam. Mus. As. Soc, p. 108. 



5 List Sp. Mam. Col. B. M., p. 148. 



6 Mam. Ind., p. 182. 



