MAMMALIA. 



23 



published in 1869, Dr. Gray gave the Punjab Salt Range as the locality, on the authority of 

 a specimen presented by Dr. Oldham. If this be right, the true V. flavescens may be the 

 same as V. pusillus 1 formerly identified 2 by its describer, Mr. Blyth, with V. flavescens, 

 but subsequently considered distinct. Dr. Leith Adams, however, identified a fox, of which 

 he purchased specimens at Leh, with V. flavescens, and as his skins were compared at the 

 British Museum, his identification is in all probability correct, whilst there can be but 

 little question that all the fox skins usually brought for sale at Leh belong to the same species 

 as those obtained by Dr. Stoliczka. The identification is, I admit, by no means perfect. 



The most prominent distinction between the foxes of Eastern Turkestan and the true 

 V. montana of the Himalaya appears to be in the size of the teeth. As a rule, the skulls 

 of the former are larger, but one skull of V. montana in the Indian Museum scarcely differs 

 in measurement from that of the Maralbashi specimen of V. flavescens. The former is 5'6 

 inches long from the occipital plane to the end of the premaxillaries, by 2*95 broad across 

 the zygomatic arches, and the lower jaw measures 4'35 from angle to symphysis. The follow- 

 ing are the dimensions, in parts of an inch, of the three hindmost teeth of the upper jaw in 

 the two skulls :■ — 





V. flavescens. 



r. 



montana. 





Length, 



Breadth, 



Length 



Breadth. 



m. 1 . 



. 0-6-1 



032 



0-53 



0-27 



m. 1 



. 0-43 



0-55 



0-37 



0-45 



m. 2 . 



. 0-25 



0-4 



0-22 



0-31 



There is some variation, but the difference is considerable in all the skulls I have 

 examined. 



All these Asiatic foxes, although differing considerably in colour, are near allies of 

 the common European fox. Comparing the Maralbashi skull with that of Y. vulgaris, 

 I notice considerable difference in the teeth. In V. vulgaris the last molar is much shorter 

 transversely in proportion to its length from front to back of the jaw ; the hinder margin is 

 nearly a straight line, whilst in the Yarkand skull it is concave. The penultimate molar in the 

 latter, too, is broader than it is in any of the European skulls I have examined. There is, 

 however, sufficient variation amongst the teeth of these skulls to render it doubtful how far 

 specific characters can be made to depend upon them alone. 



The auditory bullae of the Yarkand skull are larger than in V. vulgaris, or than in 

 most specimens of V. montana from the Himalayas. 



Amongst the skins obtained from Eastern Turkestan and Ladak, some are pale rufous, 

 like Mr. Blyth's specimen, whilst in others there is an admixture of greyish and blackish 

 tints owing to the prevalence of black tips on the hairs. The latter, which are probably 

 younger individuals, approach V. montana in colouration. The difference is most marked 

 on the external surface of the limbs, which are pure bright rufous in some animals, whilst 

 in others they are dark rufous grey with a blackish margin to the white inner portion 

 of the fore-leg. The under-fur in all these foxes, V. flavescens or V. montana, is similarly 

 coloured, the woolly hairs being purplish- grey with, on the back, bright rufous tips. The 

 colouration is, however, darker in V. montana, and, owing to the tips of the longer hairs being 

 less developed, the colour of the under-fur shows more. 



1 J. A. S. R, xxiii, 1854, p. 729. 



2 J. A. S. B., xxii, 1853, p. 581. 



