WILD ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY 
to be easily known and recognized by persons accustomed 
to examine them, although they are spotted and coloured 
somewhat alike. In the smaller kinds, such as the serval, 
lynx, ocelots, and many of the smaller tiger cats, the skins 
are the only means of determining the species, as the 
skeletons present such a marked uniformity that it is 
impossible to distinguish one species from another, the 
size in so many instances varying greatly in the same 
species, causing much confusion and difficulty of identifi- 
cation. For instance, the leopards of India and the 
adjacent islands and the leopards of Africa are allowed by 
the best modern authorities to be only one species ; 
although they differ much in size and colour in different 
localities, and are known by various local names, such as 
cheetah, tiger, panther or leopard. On account of the 
great variation so frequently discerned in the colour or 
marking, little or no specific value is attached to it. In 
some instances, however, the size and form of the spots or 
markings on either side of the same animal differ con- 
siderably. In all the larger species the young are striped 
or spotted, the young of the lion and puma exhibiting 
these markings for several months after birth. 
3G 
