RODENTIA-LEPORIDAE-LAGOMYS PRINCEPS. 
619 
side deeper than in the hares ; the body of the tooth is therefore more contracted in the middle, 
and the salient angles of the two halves of the tooth are more prominent; the foremost molar, 
as in the hares, has two grooves on the outer surface ; the last molar has hut one salient external 
and internal angle, and in bulk does not equal half of one of the preceding molars. 
“Small naked pads at the ends of the toes have been noticed amongst the distinguishing 
characters of Lagomys , but in two Old World species these can scarcely be traced; excepting 
these pads, the soles are densely clothed with fur.”—( Waterhouse .) 
LAGOMYS PRINCEPS, Rich. 
Eittle Chief Hare. 
Lepus (Lagomys) princeps, Rich. Zool. Journal, 1828, 520.-— Ib. F. 13. A. I, 1829, 227 ; pi. xix. 
Bachman, J. A. Nat. Sc. VII, 1837, 354. 
Lagomys princeps, Waterhouse, Nat. Hist. Mamm. H, 1848, 28. 
Aud. & Bach. N. Am. Quadrupeds, II, 1851, 244 ; pi. lxxxiii, 
Sp. Ch.— 1 ‘ General hue of the fur on the upper parts of the body, grayish ; but these parts are strongly pencilled with 
black and yellowish white. On the sides of the body, yellowish brown, and on the under parts dirty white, considerably 
suffused with pale brown yellow. Feet white, tinted with yellow on the upper surface. Ears rather large, with a distinct 
white margin. 
“ Total length, 7 inches. Ears 8 lines long, 10 lines wide. Fore foot and nails, 8J lines ; hinder foot, 1 inch 2J lines.”— 
Waterhouse. 
No specimens of this species were brought in by any of the recent expeditions, and I have 
made use of the one collected in the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains by Townsend, now in 
the collection of the Philadelphia Academy, for the purpose of description. It is not in very 
perfect condition, however, lacking entirely the lower jaw, and being mounted in such a manner 
as not to allow any minute examination of its characters. The diagnosis of the species I have 
taken from Waterhouse, as giving its distinctive features as compared with, the Old World 
Lagomys. 
The size appears to be about that of a Norway rat, rather shorter and stouter, perhaps. The 
incisor teeth are stout, about eight-hundredths of an inch in width each. Their anterior face 
is deeply grooved, the greatest depth being on the anterior third, and rounding gradually from 
this to the exterior edge. The muffle is too much distorted for description, although it appears 
to be like that of a rabbit. The ears are considerably shorter than in Lepus , broad and rounded 
above, in shape not unlike those of Neotoma cinerea. Their posterior face is covered with 
long, silky fur, the concavity concealed by long bristly hair. The tail is entirely wanting. The 
feet are short, thin, and depressed. The fore foot has a large thumb claw, situated above the 
level of the remaining four. The hind feet have four toes, the central rather longest. The 
claws of both feet are large and much curved ; the hind ones especially are curved, instead of 
being almost straight as in Lepus. The bases of the claws are all more or less overgrown and con¬ 
cealed by stiff curved bristles, springing from the upper surface. The under surface of the feet 
is covered densely with rather short stiff bristly hair, the bulbs of the toes above being entirely 
naked. There are thus four naked pads on each foot, perhaps a fifth under the thumb of the 
fore foot, although this cannot be determined in the specimen. The fur is long and full, com¬ 
posed of stiff, rather bristly, hairs, without any under fur at all. The longest of these hairs 
on the back measures about three-quarters of an inch. 
