comparing it with a specimen of the pika; but a scull of the latter, preserved in
the museum of the College of Surgeons, is twice the size, and differs in form. The
pika has not only a larger head, but its fur is described as coarse, and its colours
as dissimilar to those of the Little-Chief Hare. The pika is said, by Pallas,
to inhabit Kamskatcha; and, by Pennant, to have been discovered on the
Aleutian Islands.
The Little-Chief Hare presents differences in its teeth from those of the true
hares, which fully entitle it to rank in a distinct genus; and it is further entitled
to that distinction from the naked tubercles at the end of its toes, and its yery
different habits.
De sc ript io n .
Size somewhat less than the Alpine Pika of Siberia ; length fr| inches.
On comparing the scull of this animal with those of the true hares, there appears a larger
cavity in proportion to its size for the reception of the brain. The breadth of the scull too
behind is increased by very large and spongy auditory processes. The bone anterior to the
orbit is not cribriform as in the hares, although it is thin, and there is no depression of the
froijtal bone between the orbits.
Dental formula, incisors canines 5E5, grinders gEjj == 26.
Incisors white, anterior upper ones marked with a deep furrow nearer their interior margins,
and having cutting edges, which present conjointly three well-marked points, the middle one
of which is common to both teeth, and is shorter than the exterior one. These incisors
are much thinner than the incisors of a hare, and are scooped out like a gouge behind.
The small round posterior or accessary upper incisors, have flat summits. The lower
incisors are thinner than those of the hares, and are chamfered away towards their summits
more in form of a gouge than like the chisel-shaped edge of the incisors of a hare.
Grinders.—The upper grinders are not very dissimilar to those of the hare on the crowns,
but the transverse plates of enamel are more distinct. They differ in each tooth, having a
very deep furrow on its inner side, which separates the folds of enamel. This furrow is nearly
obsolete in the hares, whilst in this Lagomys it is as conspicuous as the separation betwixt
the teeth. The small posterior grinder which exists in the upper jaw of the adult hares is
entirely wanting in the different specimens of the little-chief hare which I have examined.
The lower grinders, from the depth of their lateral grooves, have at first sight a greater
resemblance to the grinders of animals belonging to the genus arvicola than to those of a
hare; their crowns exhibit a single series of acute triangles with hollow areas. The first
grinder has three not very deep grooves on a side, and is not so unlike the corresponding
tooth of a hare as those which succeed it. The second, third and fourth, have each a groove
in both sides, so deep as nearly to divide the tooth, and each of their crowns exhibits two
triangular folds of enamel. The posterior grinder forms only one triangle.
Shape._The body of the little-chief hare is moderately thick, and the head is short and
broad with an arched forehead. The whiskers are longer than the head. The ears are large
and nearly round, but do not, as far as I can judge from the prepared specimens, appear to
have the incurvation of their anterior margins, which gives the funnel shape to the ears of
the pika, as described by Pallas. An obtuse projection of the rump is the only vestige
of a tail.
The fu r is soft to the touch, and differs in quality from that of the hare, being less downy
and having more the character of the fur of a meadow-mouse. It is of an uniform, shining
grayish-black colour for three-fourths of its length from the roots upwards, then partly
yellowish-brown, and partly white, and on the superior parts of the body, most of the hairs
have short black tips. The black predominates on the posterior part of the back, but even
there it is mixed with brown. Yellowish-brown prevails on the shoulders and sides; the
under part of the protuberance which represents the tail is white, and all the under parts of
the body are smoke-gray, tinged on the chest and some parts of the belly with brown. The
fur on the back is about three-quarters of an inch long, that on the belly is somewhat shorter.
In some specimens the principal colour of the head is yellowish-brown, in others there are
many black hairs scattered over the crown. The ears have a narrow white border, and are
pretty well clothed anteriorly with white hairs tipped with black. The hairs which cover
them posteriorly are longer, and nearly black for their whole length.
The extremities are white with a brownish tinge. The soles of the feet are clothed with
dusky-brown hair. The claws are black, short, arched, much compressed, but not very
sharp, and are concealed by the fur of the toes. There is a large naked black tubercle at
the root of each of the four fore-claws, and a fifth minute tubercle far back near the
exterior margin of the rather broad and flat palm. The thumb is a little further back than
the outer toe, but not so far as the last-mentioned tubercle. It is very short, and has no
naked callus at its base, but its claw is as large as those, of the toes. There are four toes
on the hind-foot, each terminated by a naked callus and claw, similar to those on the
fore-toes.
D imensions.
Length of head and body * • »
inches.
6 9
head . . • • 2 2
„ from nose to auditory opening 1 9
„ from nose to centre of pupil 0 9
Height of the ear * • • 1
0
0
Breadth of the ear 9
Length from heel to the middle daw of the
hind-foot . * * » 1 n
„ fur on the back . • 0 10
Inches. Lines.
Length of largest whiskers * . 2 9
„ fore-foot, from wrist-joint to end
of middle claw . • • • 0 9
Breadth of fore-palm at the thumb . 0 4
Length of the scull from incisors to occipital
spine . . • • 1 9
Total breadth of the scull at the auditory
openings . . • •