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Show 538 MR. W. E. DE WINTON ON [Apr. 18? Thous variegatus, Smith (H.), Jardine's Nat. Libr. ix. p. 198, pl. xi. (1839). Vulpes variegata, Gray, P. Z. S. 1868, p. 516. Canis anthus, Mivart, Canidse, p. 41 (partim), plate inaccurate (1890). Canis hagenbecki, Noack, Zool. Garten, 1894, p. 244. Canis riparius Blanford, Geol. & Zool. Abyssinia, pp. 14, 240 (1870). ? Canis mengesi, Noack, Zool. Anz. no. 548, 1897, p. 518. Fig. 3. Skull of Canis variegatus, £ nat. size. (B.M. 169 a.) General pattern of colour as in C. anthus, but very much paler; the snout very slightly more rufous than the rest of the face; the backs of the ears and the legs pale orange-red, but the latter mixed w*ith some black, and a dark streak on the front of tbe wrist; on the back and sides there is more or less mottling of black; in some specimens the saddle-area is heavily mottled. On the whole of the saddle-area the fur is longer, reddish at the base, followed by a pale buff band aud broad black tips ; the freshness of this, in a more or less degree, accounts for the mottling. In some specimens from the highlands of Abyssinia it almost approaches the saddle of C. mesomelas, though the mixture of black on the flanks, the want of rufous colouring, and the strong dashes of black on the fore legs will at once distinguish it from that species. Along the dorsal line, and especially over the shoulders, the hair is longer than on any other part. The black patch over the gland on the tail is conspicuous. The form is very gaunt (totally unlike any of its congeners), the snout is very fine and long, and the ears are remarkably long, which at once distinguish it from any specimen of the North-African Jackal. The known range of this species is Upper Egypt and Sennaar, and along the coast from Suakim to Somaliland and tbe higher plateaux of Abyssinia. |