COMMON ZEBRA OR BONTE-QUAGGA 691 
zebra over crawshayi of South Africa is the lesser number 
and broader character of the transverse stripes on the 
middle of the body between the shoulder stripe and the first 
oblique stripe. They number five in all the specimens, 
except two in which they are reduced to four. In crawshayi 
they number six or more and are correspondingly narrower. 
The color of the dark stripes is black in all the adult speci¬ 
mens, but in the immature ones the stripes are usually less 
blackish, being seal-brown or, in very young animals, russet- 
brown. The light stripes or the ground-color are usually 
quite whitish or cream color. In some individuals there is 
occasionally a buff intermixture, but the immature animals 
and the very young are usually quite as whitish as the 
adults. The ears lose their dark markings to some extent 
in age. The dark tip is, however, never absent, but it is 
greatly reduced in old age when the ear becomes almost 
completely white in appearance. The hair coat is shortest 
in adults and longest in the young. In the nursing young 
it is usually quite woolly. In very old adults the mane, 
which in adults is usually some 5 or 6 inches long, becomes 
worn down to a thin fringe only 1 or 2 inches long, and so 
thin that the white stripes which are present in the perfect 
condition have been eliminated by wear, leaving only black. 
Specimens of this sort from the Uasin Gishu Plateau have 
been mentioned by Lydekker as perhaps representing a 
distinct race owing to their maneless condition. They are, 
however, only aged males in which the mane is normally 
greatly reduced. Female zebras do not, however, share 
in this mane reduction but retain well-developed manes 
throughout their lives. The tail tuft seems to be a more 
constant affair and has usually a length of 17 inches beyond 
the end of the tail vertebrae. It varies, however, from 15 
to 19 inches in length but appears not to show any decrease 
in age like the mane. 
The size variation in this race is really considerable if 
we take as a basis the dimensions of skulls which offer in 
this respect the most reliable data. The length of the skull 
in males varies from 19^ inches to 21^ inches, which gives 
an actual variation of 2>^ inches. In the females the skull 
length varies from 18^ inches to 20^ inches and shows an 
actual variation of 2 inches, which is practically the same 
