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Show 448 MB- w- T- BLANFORD ON A [May 2, G. nariyanus for the present animal even if, as is highly probable, it'was the species that furnished the horn described and figured by Hodgson. The name was taken from Nari, the Western (or rather perhaps the South-western) province of Tibet, often called Gnari or Nari-Khorsum, a tract, as represented on maps, of no great breadth from north to south, but extending along the north of the Himalayas from the western extremity of Tibet proper near Rudok to between long. 80° and 85° E. This region, part of which is known as Hundes, is on the frontier of our own territory, and has been visited at several points by British sportsmen. If any Stag inhabited the region, it is incredible that nothing should have been heard of it; moreover, the whole of the upper valleys of the Sutlej and Tarotsanpo or Brahmaputra, of which the area consists, is a barren, treeless, almost bushless waste, differing essentially from the country inhabited, so far as is known, by any species of Cervus. I think it extremely improbable that any Stag inhabits Nari; and under these circumstances it is not desirable to apply the name nariyanus to a species which does not occur there. Whilst Mr. Sclater pointed out the similarity of the head which had been purchased in the Darjiling bazaar, and was described by him, to that of Cervus dybowskii, he was careful to avoid identifying the two. It is clear that he was perfectly right in supposing that the head, the sldn of which was dried on, had come from Tibet. N o w that we have the whole skin and dimensions, it is evident that the species is distinct from C. dybowskii (P. Z. S. 1876, p. 123, woodcut of bead and horns, p. 124), which is a much smaller form, spotted at all seasons, although the spots in winter are described as indistinct and confined to the posterior part of the body. So far as is known the horns in the adult of C. dybowskii only bear 4 points each, and the shape of the beam is different, being more regularly curved. As therefore the Tibetan species requires a name, I think it impossible to do better than to call it Cervus thoroldi, after its discoverer. The following are the principal characters :- Cervus magnitudine ad C. elaphum proxime accedens; fuscus,^ immaculatus, area pggali circum caudam porrectd pallide rufa ornatus; pilis hirtis crassis longiusculis, in medio dorso uropygio usque ad humeros antice versis, indutus; cormbus singulis valde curvatis, ramos ad quinque gerentibus; ramo secundo a primo vel basali multo distante, tertio longiusculo. Plate X X X I V . represents the stuffed specimen in the British Museum, the type of the species; the cut (p. 445) is taken from the head of the other specimen, still belonging to Dr. Thorold. About a year ago, when discussing the geological age of the Central Asiatic highlands1, I had occasion to call attention to the remarkable specialization of the mammalian fauna inhabiting the Tibetan plateau. The Stag now described adds another to the 1 Geological Magazine, April 1892, (iii.) ix. p. 164. |