MAMMALIA. 
23 
published in 1869, Dr. Gray gave the Punjab Salt Range as the locality, on the authority of 
a specimen presented by Dr. Oldham. If this be right, the true V. flavescens may be the 
same as V. pusillus 1 formerly identified 1 2 by its describer, Mr. Blyth, with V. flavescens, 
but subsequently considered distinct. Dr. Leith Adams, however, identified a fox, of which 
he purchased specimens at Leh, with V. flavescens, and as his skins were compared at the 
British Museum, his identification is in all probability correct, whilst there can be but 
little question that all the fox skins usually brought for sale at Leh belong to the same species 
as those obtained by Dr. Stoliczka. The identification is, I admit, by no means perfect. 
The most prominent distinction between the foxes of Eastern Turkestan and the true 
V. montana of the Himalaya appears to be in the size of the teeth. As a rule, the skulls 
of the former are larger, but one skull of V. montana in the Indian Museum scarcely differs 
in measurement from that of the Maralbashi specimen of V. flavescens. The former is 5*6 
inches long from the occipital plane to the end of the premaxillaries, by 2 - 95 broad across 
the zygomatic arches, and the lower jaw measures A35 from angle to symphysis. The follow¬ 
ing are the dimensions, in parts of an inch, of the three hindmost teeth of the upper jaw in 
the two skulls :— 
V. flavescens. V. montana. 
Length, 
Breadth, 
Length. 
Breadth. 
. 0-62 
0 32 
0-53 
0-27 
. 0-43 
0-55 
0-37 
0-45 
. 0 “25 
0-4 
0-22 
0-31 
There is some variation, but the difference is considerable in all the skulls I have 
examined. 
All these Asiatic foxes, although differing considerably in colour, are near allies of 
the common European fox. Comparing the Maralbashi skull with that of V. vulgaris, 
I notice considerable difference in the teeth. In V. vulgaris the last molar is much shorter 
transversely in proportion to its length from front to back of the jaw; the hinder margin is 
nearly a straight line, whilst in the Yarkand skull it is concave. The penultimate molar in the 
latter, too, is broader than it is in any of the European skulls I have examined. There is, 
however, sufficient variation amongst the teeth of these skulls to render it doubtful how far 
specific characters can be made to depend upon them alone. 
The auditory bullse of the Yarkand skull are larger than in V. vulgaris, or than in 
most specimens of V. montana from the Himalayas. 
Amongst the skins obtained from Eastern Turkestan and Ladak, some are pale rufous, 
like Mr. Blyth’s specimen, whilst in others there is an admixture of greyish and blackish 
tints owing to the prevalence of black tips on the hairs. The latter, which are probably 
younger individuals, approach V. montana in colouration. The difference is most marked 
on the external surface of the limbs, which are pure bright rufous in some animals, whilst 
in others they are dark rufous grey with a blackish margin to the white inner portion 
of the fore-leg. The under-fur in all these foxes, W. flavescens or V. montana, is similarly 
coloured, the woolly hairs being purplish-grey with, on the back, bright rufous tips. The 
colouration is, however, darker in V. montana, and, owing to the tips of the longer hairs being 
less developed, the colour of the under-fur shows more. 
1 J. A. S. B., xxiii, 1854, p. 729. 
2 J. A. S. B., xxii, 1858, p. 581. 
