Guide to the galleries of mammalia (mammalian, osteological, cetacean) in the Department of Zoology of the British Museum (Natural History).

  • British Museum (Natural History). Department of Zoology.
Date:
1887
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Guide to the galleries of mammalia (mammalian, osteological, cetacean) in the Department of Zoology of the British Museum (Natural History). Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    [Cases 13andl4, [Cases 15andl6.] Ounce or Snow-Leopard [Fells uncid), a beautiful, soft-furred, long-tailed species, which inhabits the snowy regions of the Hima- layas and Central Asia, at elevations varying, according to the season, from 9000 to 18,000 feet above the sea, never ranging very far below the snow-line. It has never been brought alive to Europe. The upper part of Cases 11 and 12 is filled with specimens of the Leopard [Fells pardus), one of the largest of the spotted Cats, whose range extends over all Africa and Southern Asia as far north as Persia. In India it is extremely destructive to cattle and other domestic animals, and aged individuals frequently become man-eaters.^^ ^ The Tiger [Fells tigris), Cases 13 and 14, is the largest and most dangerous of the Felidse, exceeding the Lion slightly in size, and far surpassing him in destructiveness. It is the only Cat ornamented with cross stripes on the body, a type of coloration which is very scarce among Mammals; these cross stripes help to render the animal inconspicuous among the reeds in which it commonly hides itself, and where it would be comparatively easily seen if marked with spots or longitudinal bands. It inhabits nearly the whole of Asia, from Persia, across Siberia, to For- mosa, and southwards throughout India and Burma to Sumatra, Java, and Bali, while it is not found in either Ceylon or Borneo. Specimens are exhibited of the smaller, softer-furred variety of Persia, and of the very large, short-haired Bengal form. The remainder of the true Cats are placed above the Tigers in Cases 13 and 14, and in the lower parts of Cases 15 and 16. Of these the most noteworthy are the series of the Central and South- American Ocelots, the Clouded Tiger of Assam. The fine col- lection of Norwegian, Canadian, and other Lynxes is also placed here. The Lynxes differ from the ordinary Cats by their short tails, tufted ears, and by certain differences in their skulls and dentition, and are confined to the North Temperate and Arctic zones of both the Old and New Worlds. The most aberrant member of the Felidee is the Cheetah or Hunting Leopard (Case 16), characterized by its small round head, its light and slender form, semi-retractile claws, and various other peculiarities, osteological and external. It is a native of the whole
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