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IV 
THE OCELOT CATS. 
By EixiAu A. M earns. 
Major and Surgeon, United Stales Army. 
ament % nni»flR uifa 
,/FO JUN 7 1902 1 
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V 
My thanks are du e to the authorities of t he- United States National 
Museum for collecting*and^placing aTniv ciispOsTttks many specimens 
of Ocelots as were obtainable. In addition, through the United States 
National Museum and the kind offices of Mr. A itnier Stone and the 
authorities of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, and 
through Dr. J. A. Allen, I have had the Ocelots belonging to the col¬ 
lections of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, and the 
American Museum of Natural History, New York; and, through Dr. 
Q. Hart Merriam, the specimens of Fells llmitis in the collection of 
the biological /urvev of the United States Department of Agriculture 
have been placed in my hands. From mis material it has been possible 
to differentiate live very distinct forms of the Ocelot, unconnected by 
intermediate individuals in the materials examined. These forms may 
be identified by means of the following^ 
KEY TO THE AMERICAN OCELOTS, 
a. Color decidedly grayish. Black markings restricted. Size small or medium. 
b. Total length less than 1} 100 mm. Skull less than 115 mm. in basilar length. 
Tail ntaiulv ringed -with Wwcte .Amgst at l»awe: snhtorminal blank rings 
about 8. Ground-color uniformly grayish. Audital bulfe short and inflated. 
Inhabits the valley of the liio Grande of Texas and Mexico. - 
„ • - ■ Fells llviitis Mearns. 
bb. Total length more than 1,100 mm. Skull more than 115 mm. in basilar length. 
Tail irregularly spotted with black above; subterminal black rings about 3. 
Color grayish, decidedly tinged with tawny on head and neck. Audital 
bulla; elongate. Inhabits Brazil and the northeastern portion of South 
America. Fells cli ibigouazouJG, riffith! 
ua. Color decidedly tawny. Black markings extended. Size large. 
c. Ground-color above, uniformly tawny, tinged with rufous. Spots of upper 
portion of body all black, not inclosing light areas. Postorbital breadth of 
skull greater than the length oPifi e nasal bones. - 
\ , i , 'Fells lequatorlalis, new species. 
Ground-color above, tawny anteriorly, becoming grayish or paler poste¬ 
riorly. Spots of dorsal region black, inclosing, or partially inclosing, light 
cc. 
A 
A 
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(l. Smaller; basilar length of skull of male measuring 120" min., female 105 mm. 
Ground-color of upper parts, tawny anteriorly, varying from wood brown 
to clay color posteriorly. Black markings moderately intense. Inhabits 
southern Mexico.. Fells pa/rdalis Lirinseus. 
dd. Larger; basilar length of skull of male measuring 130 mm., female 115 mm. 
Ground-color russet anteriorly, varying from tawny-olive to cream buff 
posteriorly. Black markings very intense. Inhabits Central America. 
- - . , Fells costaricensis , new species. 
It is probable that some of the above forms intergrade, and it is cer¬ 
tain that other forms remain to be described. The diversity and close 
interrelationship of the species and regional forms of Ocelots, together 
with the lack of adequate material in the hands of any investigator, 
have given rise to the multiplication of synonyms and misapplication 
of names to such a degree that the group is now in a state of nomen- 
clatorial confusion. The earlier descriptions were incomplete, espe¬ 
cially with regard to the cranial and dental characters, and were 
frequently based on young, individuals, sometimes living ones, and 
specimens from unknown localities, or of which the sex was unknown. 
I have little expectation that my efforts to disentangle the intricately 
involved synonymy of the American Ocelots will be entirely success¬ 
ful. At a later day, when the existing forms shall have been charac¬ 
terized and the investigator can visit the museums of the Old World, 
carrying with him the necessary materials for comparison with such 
fcvpes as remain, it may become possible to establish more of the early 
names than I have been able to do. Those which have receiv ed atten¬ 
tion from me are the following: 
y 
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