38 SECOND YARKAND MISSION. 
entered at full length into the question of the synonymy of this and other Himalayan 
marmots in the paper already mentioned, published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of 
Bengal, 1 and need only recapitulate my conclusions here without entering into details. 
The C£ red marmot ” appears to he the common species of Ladak, and certainly is that 
of which the skins are usually obtained in Kashmir, but owing to the manner in which the 
names of different marmots have been confused by various writers, it is almost impossible to 
ascertain at present the relative distribution of this species and A. himalayanus , the “ white 
marmot” of Adams. Anderson identified skins from Sikkim with a typical specimen which 
he described from the Zoji-la pass between Kashmir and Dras. This last specimen I have 
examined, but the Sikkim specimens are not at present accessible. Erom a number of 
enquiries, however, I believe it is highly improbable that Arctomys caudatus inhabits the 
Eastern Himalayas, and if the specimens supposed to be from Sikkim are really A caudatus 
the locality is almost certainly erroneous. 
Jacquemont’s type was procured near the Zoji-la, at a place which he calls Gombour or 
Gombur, close to the head of the Sind valley in Kashmir, but on. the opposite watershed, that 
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. Eorsyth on his first expedition to Yarkand. 2 
Adams 3 distinguished the present species as the red marmot, which he called A bobac 
of Schreber. 
Blyth 4 referred all the Himalayan marmots to one species, which, following Gray, 5 he also 
called A bobac, Schreber. Jerdon 6 separated A liemachalanus, Hodgson’s long-tailed marmot, 
and gave as one of the native names Drun of Kashmir; but he left the proper name for 
the Drun, A caudatus , as a synonym of the short-tailed Himalayan marmot, his A bobac. 
Anderson adopted Jerdon’s synonymy. The true A liemachalanus of Hodgson, however, is a 
much smaller species and differently coloured, so that Jacquemont’s name must be preserved 
for the “ red marmot ” of Kashmir and Ladak. 
Arctomys caudatus is one of the largest species of marmots, being nearly two feet long, 
exclusive of the tail, which measures, with the hairs at the end, half as much more. The 
general colour is yellowish tawny, more or less washed with black on the back, and with 
all the underparts and limbs rusty red. In same specimens (males ?) the back is very much 
blacker than in others, the hairs being dusky or black throughout, whilst other specimens 
have only the tips of the hairs black. In the specimen brought from the Zoji-la by Dr. 
Henderson, the fore-foot (palma) measures, without the claws, 2*3 inches, the hind-foot 
3 A, 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 . . . 
. -017 
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. 13. M., p. 148. 
6 Mam. Ind., p. 182. 
