FELIS LYBICA. 
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the lower jaw, where it meets a similar line which originates in the moustachial area; 
chin pale butf-white ; two transverse lines of reddish on the throat; lower parts whitish, 
more or less washed with yellow-fawn, with rather obscure reddish markings; fore 
and hind limbs banded with somewhat obscure darker stripes, with one very distinct 
broad black band on the inner side of the fore leg just below, and another, generally 
less defined, above the elbow ; the plantar surface of the fore and hind feet black, 
continuing, in the latter, in a narrow median line to the heel. The individual 
hairs of the whole of the upper part of the body are banded after the following 
pattern: the base of the hair is smoke-brown, followed by an extensive area, of more 
than half the length of the entire hair, of either buff or cinnamon, a narrow black 
ring, a broader pale buff ring, and a black tip. Along the whole of the dorsal line 
the broad lower pale portion of the fur is reddish cinnamon-coloured, giving a richer 
somewhat rufous tone to the back, while on the sides this part of the fur is pale buff. 
The tail is coloured like the back for more than half its length, becoming greyer 
posteriorly; towards the extremity there are usually three conspicuous black bands, with 
the spaces between them whitish grey, and a black tip about an inch or more in extent. 
The above description is taken from specimens evidently in full coat and applies 
equally to individuals from such widely separated localities as Shebel L’Anserin in 
Tunisia, Suakin, Adegrat in Abyssinia, and Machakos in British East Africa. In 
specimens from the Suakin Plain, which are in very short fur, killed on the 25th and 
28th of January (or only one month later than others from the same locality in the 
longer coat), the whole of the skin is thickly barred with somewhat indistinct but 
clearly traceable stripes—transverse on the body, longitudinal on the head and neck,— 
slightly darker than the general body-colour, which is altogether more yellow and 
not so grizzled as in the specimens in longer fur. 
On looking more closely into the colour of those with the heavier coat, the fine 
bands are always distinctly traceable on the head and neck and are found to be more 
or less conspicuous on the body generally in proportion as the hair is shorter or longer. 
The skull of F. lyUca is very broad in the orbital region, the breadth of the 
zygomatic arches anterior to the ascending postorbital processes being not markedly 
less than in the squamosal region. The postorbital processes are very long, almost 
meeting in some individuals. The muzzle is extremely short. The nasals are slightly 
depressed as far as their connection with the premaxillae, but then rise abruptly and 
again sink towards their junction with the frontals; so that the front of the face falls 
away at an angle of 45° from the plane of the forehead, which is flattened over the 
orbits. Viewed in profile the orbital cavities almost reach the line of the forehead. 
The length of the nasal bones is somewhat variable; they are generally rather abruptly 
truncated posteriorly and end in a line with the ascending processes of the maxillae, 
but in some instances they may be slightly longer and in others rather shorter. 
