MAMMALIA. 37 



much more dark-coloured, but in a footnote attention is called to the fact that the plate has 

 been over-coloured by the draftsman. 



By the kindness of Mr. Mandelli of Darjiling, I have been enabled to examine speci- 

 mens of A. himalayanus from the portion of Tibet north of Sikkim. As this locality is 

 at no great distance from Northern Nepal or the adjoining districts in Tibet, whence Mr. 

 Hodgson's types were derived, it may fairly be inferred that Mr. Mandelli's specimens in all 

 probability resemble those originally described. The skins differ but little from those 

 of Sanju; they are a little greyer in tint and darker in the face, but the distinction is 

 trifling, and the dimensions appear similar. The skull of one of Mr. Mandelli's specimens 

 measures 101 millimetres in length by 67 in breadth, and is consequently broader in pro- 

 portion to its length than the Sanju skull, of which the measurements are given below, and 

 which is figured on PI. Xlla. The former is also rather less high, and the nasal bones are 

 shorter and more convex. The skull of A. robustus again, as figured in the " Recherches," 

 differs from the Sanju specimen in having a narrower frontal region and somewhat narrower 

 and shorter nasals. It is probable that a larger series of these animals would show other 

 cranial distinctions, for marmots live under the most favorable conditions for producing 

 permanent varieties ; each colony or group of families being isolated, and frequently at a 

 distance of many miles from the next colony, so that the two, in all probability, rarely, if 

 ever, breed with each other. I am disposed to think that it is most convenient to consider 

 all these short-tailed Tibetan and Kuenlun marmots as varieties of the same species. 



Dr. Severtzoff found a marmot in the eastern mountains of Russian Turkestan above 

 an elevation of 4,000 feet, and at first identified the species with the A. baibacinus of Brandt 

 from the Altai, but subsequently, in conversation with Mr. Dresser, suggested that the 

 Turkestan form might be A. robustus of Milne Edwards. This opinion requires confirmation, 

 no specimens having been compared so far as I know, but should it prove correct, the range 

 of A. himalayanus (A. robustus) must extend to the Thian Shan or its branches. 



In a Sanju specimen of A. himalayanus, the ears are barely § inch high from the orifice ; 

 the fore-foot (palma) measures 25 inches without the nails; the hind-foot (planta) 3'25. 



The following are the dimensions of a skull : — 





Met. 



Inches. 



Length from occipital plane to anterior end of nasal bones 



. -105 



4-13 



Breadth across widest part of zygomatic arches . 



. -066 



2-58 



Do. behind postorbital processes .... 



. -0185 



0-73 



Length of nasal bones ....... 



. -045 



1-76 



Breadth of do. in front ...... 



. -018 



0-7 



Do. do. behind ...... 



. -010 



0-38 



Length of molars in upper jaw taken together 



. -024 



0-95 



Do. lower jaw from angle to symphysis , 



. -06S 



2-7 



Height of do. at coronoid process ■ 



. -043 



1-7 



Dr. Stoliczka mentions in his diary that Arctomys bobac (A. himalayanus?) was seen 

 at Rimdi north of the Pangong lake in Ladak. 



28. Arctomys caudatus. Pis. XIII, XIII«. 



Jacquemont, Voyage dans FInde, iv, p. 66, PI. V.— W. Blanf J. A. S. B., 1875, xliv, Pt. 2, p. 122. 



A. bobac', Adams, P. Z. S., 1858, p. 521, uec Schreber. 



A. hemachalanus , Anderson, P. Z. S., 1871, p. 561, nee Hodgson. 



No specimen of this, the common marmot of Ladak, is included in Dr. Stolic?,ka's collec- 

 tions, but he had, I believe, obtained specimens in his former journey. I have already 



K 



