■ B H K
T H E SER V A L .
FELIS SERVAL, Erxl. R&gn. Anim. (1 7 7 7 ) p. 523. sp. 13.—Schreb. Säugeth. (17 7 8 ) Th. iii. p. 407, tab. cviii— Gmel. Syst. Nat. (1788)
vol. i. pt. 1, p. 82. sp. 16.—Fisch. Zoogn. (18 1 4 ) p. 224. sp. 8.—Desm. Nouv., Diet. Hist. Nat. (1 8 1 6 ) p. 110.—F. Cuv. & St.-HiL,
Hist. Nat. Mamm. (18 1 8 ) vol. ii. pl. 12öi—Desm. Mamm. (1820) p. 227. no. 354, pl. 96. fig. 4.—Cuv. Ossem. Foss. (18 2 5 ) vol. iv.
p. 432.—Griff. Anim. King. (18 2 7 ) vol. ii. p. 481, pl.—1Temm. Mon. Mamm. (1827) vol. i. p. 103.—Less. Man. Mamm. (1827) p. 184.
—Fisch. Syn. Mamm. (1829) p . 202. sp. 9.—Smuts, Dissert. Zool. (1 8 3 2 ) p. 29.—Blainv. Osteol. (1839 -6 4 ) vol. ii. Atl. pls. ix., xiv.—
Jard. Nat. Libr. vol. xvi. p. 227, pl. x x iv—Less. Nouv. Tab. Rfcgn. Anim. (1842) p. 53. sp. 528.—Loche, Expl. Scient. Alg6r. (1850)
pl. 1.—Gerv. Hist. Nat. Mamm. (1 8 5 5 ) p. 86—Loche, Cat. Mamm. Alggr. (1858) p. 7. sp. 13.—Kirk, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1864) p. 653.
sp. 29.—Sclat. -Proc. Zool. Soc. (1 8 6 4 ) p. 100.—J. E. Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1867) p. 272.—Id. Cat. Cam. Mamm. (1869) p. 23.
sp. 13—Von der Deck. Reis. Ost-Afr. (1869) vol. iii. pt. 1, p. 8.
CAPE CAT, Forst. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. (1781) vol. lxxi. p. 1.—Penn. Hist. Quad. (17 9 3 ) p. 291, pl. 1.
FELIS CAPENSIS, Gmel. Syst. Nat. (1788) vol. i. p. 81. sp. 1 4—Desm. Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat. (1 8 1 6 ) p. 110.—Id. Mamm. (1820) p. 228.
no. 356.
SERVAL, Penn. Hist. Quad. (1793) p. 301. sp. 202.
FELIS GALEOPARDUS, Desm. Mamm. (18 2 0 ) p. 227, no. 355.
CHAUS SERVALINA, Gerv., Blainv. OstSol. Felis, t. 16.
FELIS SENEGALENSIS, Less. Mag. Zool. (18 3 9 ) t. 10.—Id. Comp. Buff. (1839) vol. i. p. 409.—Id. Suppl. Buff. (1847) p. 109.—Id. Hist.
Nat. Mamm. et Ois. (1 8 4 7 ) p. 109. sp. 7.
FELIS SERVALINA, Ogilby, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1 8 3 9 ) p. 4.—Sclat. Proc. Zool. Soc. (18 6 0 ) p. 246. sp. 4— Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1867) p. 395,
(1 8 7 4 ) p. 31.—Id. Cat Cam. Mamm. (1 8 6 9 ) p . 24. sp. 16.
LEOPARDUS SERVAL, J. E. Gray, Cat. Mamm. Brit. Mus. (1842) p. 41.
CHAUS SERVALINUS,. Gerrard, Cat. Bones Brit. Mus. p. 65.—J. E. Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1874) p. 31. sp. 3.
FELIS (LEPTAILURUS) SERVAL, Severtz. Rev. Mag. Zool. (18 5 8 ) p. 389.
GALEOPARDUS CAPENSIS, Fitzin. Sitzungsber. Akad. Wiss. Wien, (18 6 9 ) lix. p. 649.
GALEOPARDUS SERVAL, id. ibid. p. .651.
GALEOPARDUS SENEGALENSIS, id. ibid. p. 657.
H a b . Africa, from Algiers to the Cape. Very widely spread in the plains, valleys, and hills of East Tropical Africa
(Kibk).
T h i s prettily marked and well-known species is a native of Africa, where it appears to be widely distributed, having been
procured in Algiers on the north, and in many localities south of the Desert to the Cape. A good many different names
hive been bestowed upon it; and some believe that there are more than one species, distinguished by the different size
and distribution of the spots and length of tail; but I have not seen any specimen among the considerable number that I
have examined which seemed to be entitled to a distinct rank. Lesson described one of these animals as FeUs senegalensis ;
and the late Dr. Gray, misled probably by the description, asked, in his ‘Catalogue of Carnivorous Mammalia,’ if it could
be F. viverrina. Through the kindness of Prof. A. Milne-Edwards I was enabled to examine Lesson’s type specimen,
which is now in the Paris Museum ; and it was at once perceived to be the present species, and not in any way entitled to be
regarded as distinct. Lesson, in his description (I. c.), did not compare his animal with the Serval, but with F. vivemna,
from which, of course, it was distinct. The only reference he made to the present species was in his remarks about the
eaxs— «Amples, élevées, à bords lisses, très-poilues en dedans, et rappelant celles des Servals.” I t is a perfect description
of the ears of a Serval, which are remarkable for their size, the two nearly meeting when brought forward to
“ attention,” as shown in the figure of my Plate, which was drawn from the life. Lesson’s figure, although badly drawn
and exaggerated, especially in the length and colouring of the tail, is that of F. serval. Another name which has been
bestowed upon this species is that of servalina, Ogilby, whose type, a flat skin, is in the British Museum. This is a style
with the spots more numerous and quite small, just the kind of variety met with in F. geoffiroyi, mentioned in the article