1904-5.] Cape Hunting Dogs (Lycaon pictus). 
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Cape Hunting Dogs (Lycaon pictus) in the Gardens of 
the Royal Zoological Society of Ireland. By D. J. 
Cunningham, F.R.S., Professor of Anatomy, University 
of Edinburgh. (With Two Plates.) 
(MS. received July 3, 1905. Head same date.) 
In October 1894 a pair of Cape hunting dogs were acquired 
by the Royal Zoological Society of Ireland and added to their 
collection in Phoenix Park. They were purchased from Hagen- 
beck, in Hamburg, and at the time they came to Dublin they were 
not quite full grown. Although still existing in considerable 
numbers over a very wide area in Africa, the Lycaon is by no 
means a common specimen in Zoological Gardens, and it is rare 
to meet with it on the lists that are periodically issued by dealers 
in wild animals. 
The characters of the Cape hunting dog are so fully described 
in most books on natural history, that is not necessary to dwell 
on them in this communication. Although placed in a separate 
genus, there is little either in general appearance or in structural 
detail that distinguishes it from the lupine members of the genus 
Canis. As is well known, the dog has five toes on the front foot 
and four on the hind foot. The Lycaon has -four toes on both 
fore and hind feet (fig. 1) ; and this, with certain minor dental 
peculiarities, constitutes the chief structural difference between 
it and the genus Canis. 
In size and general form it resembles an English collie, but its 
legs are longer and more slender and its head is remarkable on 
account of its breadth. The feature which chiefly catches the eye 
is its peculiar coloration. The prevalent or ground colour is a 
dusky, dull black, but this is interrupted by numerous blotches 
and spots of light yellow and white, which are scattered very 
irregularly over the body and limbs. Ho two Cape hunting dogs 
are marked precisely alike, and yet the general effect is the same in 
them all and very different from the uniform and more sombre 
hues which as a rule distinguish the members of the genus Canis. 
