* 
38 
SECOND YARKAND MISSION. 
entered at full length into the question of the synonymy of this and other Himalaya* 
marmots in the paper already mentioned, published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society 0 
Bengal, 1 and need only recapitulate my conclusions here without entering into details. 
The “ red marmot ” appears to he the common species of Ladak, and certainly is 
of which the skins are usually obtained in Kashmir, hut owing to the manner in which tl |C 
names of different marmots have been confused by various writers, it is almost impossible 1:0 
ascertain at present the relative distribution of this species and A. himalayanus, the “ wbb 1 
marmot ” of Adams. Anderson identified skins from Sikkim with a typical specimen whi^ 1 
he described from the Zoji-la pass between Kashmir and Dras. This last specimen I ha^ 
examined, but the Sikkim specimens are not at present accessible. From a number 0 
enquiries, however, I believe it is highly improbable that Arctomys ccmdatus inhabits th e 
Eastern Himalayas, and if the specimens supposed to be from Sikkim are really A caudal 
the locality is almost certainly erroneous. 
Jacquemont’s type was procured near the Zoji-la, at a place which he calls Gombour 01 
Gombur, close to the head of the Sind valley in Kashmir, but on the opposite watershed, tl^ 
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. Forsyth on his first expedition to Yarkand.® 
Adams 3 distinguished the present species as the red marmot, which he called A boh« c 
of Schreber. 
Blyth 1 referred all the Himalayan marmots to one species, which, following Gray, 5 he 
called A holme, Schreber. Jerdon 6 separated A hemachalanus, Hodgson’s long-tailed marmn ’ 
and gave as one of the native names Dnm of Kashmir ; but he left the proper name f° r 
the Drun, A caudcitus, as a synonym of the short-tailed Himalayan marmot, his A boh aC ' 
Anderson adopted Jerdon’ s synonymy. The true A hemachalanus of Hodgson, however, lS ‘^ 
much smaller species and differently coloured, so that Jacquemont’s name must be preserve 
for the “ red marmot ” of Kashmir and Ladak. 
Arctomys ccmdatus is one of the largest species of marmots, being nearly two feet l 011 -’ 
exclusive of the tail, which measures, with the hairs at the end, half as much more, 
general colour is yellowish tawny, more or less washed with black on the back, and "tf 11 
all the underparts and limbs rusty red. In same specimens (males ?) the back is very m llC 
blacker than in others, the hairs being dusky or black throughout, whilst other spccim ellS 
have only the tips of the hairs black. In the specimen brought from the Zoji-la by ^ 
Henderson, the fore-foot (palmal measures, without the claws, 2- 3 inches, the hind-f° 
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 
Length of nasal bones ....... 
. -042 
1-67 
Breadth of do. in front ....... 
. -020 
0-8 
Do. do. behind ....... 
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. 
