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Show 432 ON THE WILD ASS OF MONGOLIA. [Mar. 15, in the winter and summer coat it lacks, however, the distinctly rufous-chestnut tint so characteristic of the latter, while it is further characterised by the much less marked contrast between the light and dark areas of the coat; the light areas on the muzzle, buttocks, legs, and underparts being " isabella-coloured instead of pure white, and thus much less sharply differentiated from the fawn of the rest of the body. The general colour is pale sandy fawn, with the tips of the ears, mane, dorsal stripe (which is continued down the tail) brown; and there seems to be but little difference in this respect between the summer and winter coats. The dorsal stripe is narrow, as in the Kiang, and thus distinct from that of the Ghor-khar and Onager, which is broader and bordered with white. In order to show the difference between the present animal and the true Kiang, I give (in PL XXVIII.) a coloured illustration of the latter, for which the Society is also indebted to its President. I take it that the Woburn animal is the true Equus hemionus of Pallas*, which came from Mongolia, and is known to the natives as the Chigetai (Dziggetai). It is certainly entitled to be regarded as subspecifieally distinct from the Kiang of Tibet and Ladak, and the latter should accordingly be known as Equus hemionus kiang Moorcroft. Judging from its coloration, the Chigetai should be an inhabitant of more desert country than that frequented by the Kiang ; and by comparing accounts of the Gobi with what I know of Ladak, this would seem to be the case. In separating these two forms I am in accord with Dr. Matschie (SB. Ges. naturfor. Fr. Berlin, 1893, p. 208). If the Chigetai and the Kiang are regarded as races of one species, there would seem considerable reason for considering the Onager and the Ghor-khar as subspecies of a second; for the two latter certainly differ from the two former much more than do the members of the two groups from one another. In their tendency to a greyer colour, smaller hoofs, and possibly in a greater length of ear, the two southern forms present an approximation to the true Wild Asses of Africa, which is quite what we might expect from their geographical distribution. In colour, and perhaps also in length of ear, as well as in their cry, the Chigetai and the Kiang are more horse-like. EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. PLATE XXVII. Male Chigetai (Equus hemionus) from Kobdo, now living at Woburn Abbey, in summer coat. PLATE XXVIII. Female Kiang (Equus hemionus kiang), from a Ladak specimen, in the summer coat, at Woburn Abbey. * Nov. Comm. Petrop. xix. p. 397, pi. 7 (1775). |
