Column Heading Legend:
Col. A: [Male] ad. 186455 USNM, Mason, Texas. Type
Col. B: [Male] ad. 31970/24575 USBS, Blocker Ranch, Texas
Col. C: [Female] ad. 126241 USBS, 8 mi. S Langtry, Texas
Col. D: [Male] ad. 47122 USBS, Brownsville, Texas. Type
Col. E: [Male] ad. 45132/33129 USBS, Brownsville, Texas
Col. F: [Male] yg. 45900/33865 USBS, Brownsville, Texas
Col. G: [Female] ad. 47121/34865 USBS, Brownsville, Texas
Col. H: [Female] ad. 24839/32237 USBS, Laredo, Texas
Col. I: [Female] ad. 24840/32328 USBS, Laredo, Texas
Col. J: [Male]? sad. 16651 AMNH, Kingsville, Texas
============================================+==========================
C. mesoleucus mearnsi | C. leuconotus texensis
----------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J
----------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
Total | 633 | ... | 610 | 800 | 920 | 770 | 670 | 685 | 700 | ...
length | | | | | | | | | |
----------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
Length | ... | ... | 269 | 360 | 410 | 300 | 250 | 220 | 260 | ...
of tail | | | | | | | | | |
----------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
Length | 72[1]| 75[1]| 71 | 74 | 70 | 90 | 65 | 78 | 80 | ...
of hind | | | | | | | | | |
foot | | | | | | | | | |
----------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
Condylo- | 72.0 | 72.8 | 64.5| 83.5| 78.9| 78.2| 72.0| 75.7| 74.5| ...
basal | | | | | | | | | |
length | | | | | | | | | |
----------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
Zygomatic | 51.3 | 50.1 | 43.4| 55.3| 76.8| ... | 48.3| 49.0| 48.0|50.3
breadth | | | | | | | | | |
----------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
Mastoidal | 41.0 | 44.2 | 37.0| 47.3| 78.2| 43.7| 40.5| 40.5| 40.7| ...
breadth | | | | | | | | | |
----------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
Length | 28.9 | 29.8 | 31.8| 28.9| 28.0| 25.8| 32.7| 55.3| 30.4|29.9
of upper | | | | | | | | | |
tooth-rows| | | | | | | | | |
----------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
Outside | 7.3 | ... | 6.1| 8.5| 53.2| 7.5| 7.5| 6.6| 7.7| 7.6
length | | | | | | | | | |
of P4 | | | | | | | | | |
----------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
Outside | 7.8 | 7.0 | 6.7| 9.2| 52.7| 8.4| 8.3| 7.6| 9.3| 9.1
length | | | | | | | | | |
of M1 | | | | | | | | | |
----------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
Breadth | 7.6 | 7.0 | 6.5| 9.3| ... | 8.6| 8.2| 7.9| 9.4| 8.2
of M1 | | | | | | | | | |
----------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----
[1] Measured dry.
~Conepatus mesoleucus venaticus~ Goldman
When Goldman (Jour. Mamm., 3:40, February 10, 1921) named _C. m.
venaticus_ from Arizona he did not mention material which Merriam
(Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 15:163, August 6, 1902) had recorded
from Ft. Verde, Arizona, under the name _Conepatus mesoleucus
mearnsi_. This material seems to be specimens in the American Museum
of Natural History of which the two oldest specimens are as follows:
No. 2486/1921, male, adult, from Box Canon, 20 mi. S Ft. Verde; No.
2487/1922, female, subadult, from Verde River, Arizona. Pertinent
measurements of these specimens are, respectively, as follows:
condylobasal length, 72.4, 68.8; zygomatic breadth, 50.0, 44.2; width
of braincase at constriction behind zygomata, 36.4, 33.8; mastoidal
breadth, 44.3, 38.4. Comparison of these measurements with those given
for _C. m. venaticus_ (Goldman, _loc. cit._) reveals that the
specimens concerned agree in narrowness of skull with _C. m.
venaticus_ (_C. m. mearnsi_ is relatively wider) and it is on this
basis that we refer the specimens to _Conepatus mesoleucus venaticus_.
~Urocyon cinereoargenteus costaricensis~ Goodwin
J. A. Allen (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 20:48, February 29, 1904)
listed two specimens of gray fox from Pozo Azul, Costa Rica, as
_Urocyon guatemalae_. Goodwin, in his "Mammals of Costa Rica" (Bull.
Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 87(5):271-474, December 31, 1946) did not
mention any material from Pozo Azul. We have examined the skull of the
adult female (No. 19208 AMNH) taken on July 17, 1902, at Pozo Zul
[sic], by M. A. Carriker and find it to be indistinguishable from
other specimens of _Urocyon cinereoargenteus costaricensis_ to which
subspecies we therefore refer the specimen.
~Canis lupus griseoalbus~ Baird
In 1823 Sabine (No. V, Zoological Appendix, p. 654, _In_ Narrative of
a journey to the shores of the Polar Sea ... xvi + 768, 30 pls., 4
maps, 1823, London, by John Franklin) applied the name _Canis
Lupus-Griseus_ to the gray wolf in the vicinity of Cumberland House,
Saskatchewan. On the following page (p. 655) he employed the name
_Canis Lupus-Albus_ for a white wolf obtained at Fort Enterprise,
Northwest Territories. In 1937 Goldman (Jour. Mamm., 18(1):45,
February 14) did not consider the wolves of the Cumberland House
region to be sufficiently different from animals from surrounding
areas to warrant nominal separation for them and he placed the name
_Canis lupus griseus_ Sabine as a synonym of _Canis lupus
occidentalis_ Simpson. Anderson (Jour. Mamm., 24(3):386, August 17,
1943) revived Sabine's name _griseus_ and assigned to _Canis lupus
griseus_ an extensive geographic range in central Canada. Later,
Goldman (Part II, Classification of wolves, p. 395 and 424, _In_ The
Wolves of North America, American Wildlife Institute, May 29, 1944) by
implication, again arranged _griseus_ of Sabine as a synonym of _Canis
lupus occidentalis_ and pointed out (_op. cit._:395) that, in any
event, the name _griseus_ is preoccupied by _[Canis] Griseus_
Boddaert, 1784 [= _Urocyon cinereoargenteus_ (Schreber), 1775]. Still
later, Anderson (Bull. 102, Nat. Mus. Canada, p. 54, January 27, 1947)
again recognized the subspecies formerly known as _Canis lupus
griseus_ Sabine, and, because of Boddaert's prior usage of _[Canis]
griseus_, renamed the subspecies _Canis lupus knightii_. It appears,
however, that there is an earlier name available for this subspecies.
Goldman (_op. cit._, 1943:395) points out that "apparently combining
the names _Canis (Lupus) griseus_ and _Canis (Lupus) albus_ of Sabine
... as _Canis occidentalis_ var. _griseo-albus_, Baird [Mammals,
Repts. Explor. and Surv. for R. R. to Pacific Ocean, Washington, p.
104, vol. 8, (1857) July 14, 1858] seems to have entertained a
somewhat composite concept of a widely ranging race varying in color
from 'pure white to grizzled gray.' No type was mentioned and the name
does not appear to be valid or clearly assignable to the synonomy of
any particular race." We agree with Goldman that Baird's concept was a
composite one, but Baird's name, _Canis occidentalis_ var.
_griseo-albus_, was clearly based on the primary names of Sabine
(_griseus_ and _albus_), of De Kay (_occidentalis_), of Maxmillian
(_variabilis_, a synonym of _Canis lupus nubilis_) and of Townsend
(_gigas_, a synonym of _Canis lupus fuscus_). Nevertheless, the name
_griseo-albus_ was applied to, among others, the subspecies of wolf
the type locality of which is at Cumberland House, Saskatchewan, and,
by restriction, the name _Canis lupus griseoalbus_ Baird is available
for the subspecies and, of course, antedates _Canis lupus knightii_ of
Anderson (_op. cit._, 1947:54). It might be argued that Baird did not
intend to propose a new name, but that he did so is a _fait accompli_.
_Canis lupus albus_ Sabine, 1823, is not available since it is
preoccupied by _C[anis]. Lupus albus_ Kerr (Animal Kingdom, Class I,
Mammalia, p. 137, 1792), a name applied to the wolf of the Yenisei
region of Siberia.
The name and synonomy of the wolf of central Canada should stand as
follows:
~Canis lupus griseoalbus~ Baird
1858. _Canis occidentalis_, var. _griseo-albus_ Baird, Mammals,
Repts. Explor. and Surv. for R. R. to Pacific Ocean, Washington,
vol. 8, p. 104 (1857), July 14, 1858, based on _Canis Lupus-Griseus_
Sabine 1823 from the vicinity of Cumberland House, Saskatchewan.
1823. _Canis Lupus-Griseus_ Sabine, No. V, Zool. App. p. 654, _In_
Narrative of a journey to the shores of the Polar Sea ... by John
Franklin (_nec [Canis] Griseus_ Boddaert, Elench. Anim. p. 97,
1794, a synonym of _Urocyon cinereaorgenteus_ (Schreber),
Saeugethiere, p. 92, 1775).
1943. _Canis lupus griseus_, Anderson, Jour. Mamm., 24(3):386,
August 17.
1947. _Canis lupus knightii_ Anderson, Bull. 102, Nat. Mus.
Canada, p. 54, January 24. (A renaming of _Canis Lupus-Griseus_
Sabine, 1823.)
The name _Canis Lupus-Albus_ Sabine, 1823 (_nec C[anis]. Lupus albus_
Kerr, Animal Kingdom, p. 137, 1792) should, of course, be retained as
a synonym of _Canis lupus mackenzii_ Anderson as arranged by Anderson
(Bull. 102, Nat. Mus. Canada, p. 55, January 24, 1947).
When Anderson (_op. cit._:54) recognized the subspecies _Canis lupus
knightii_ [= _C. l. griseoalbus_] he made no mention of a specimen of
wolf from Norway House, Manitoba, which Goldman (_op. cit._, 1944:427)
had referred to _C. l. occidentalis_, but the subspecific identity of
which was placed in doubt by Anderson's action. We have examined the
specimen, No. 115995, in the Biological Surveys Collection, U.S.
National Museum, and have compared it with specimens, including
topotypes, of _C. l. occidentalis_ and _C. l. hudsonicus_. The
specimen fits the description of _C. l. griseoalbus_ and differs from
_C. l. occidentalis_ in its long and narrow incisive foramina, larger
skull, more nearly straight frontal profile (not markedly concave),
and slightly higher coronoid processes. Other differences alleged to
obtain between these two subspecies offer no assistance in the present
case. The specimen from Norway House differs from _C. l. hudsonicus_
in larger size of skull and stouter, blunter, postorbital processes,
the posterior borders of which turn less abruptly inward. In brief,
among currently recognized subspecies, the specimen from Norway House
seems best referred to _Canis lupus griseoalbus_ Baird.
~Canis niger rufus~ Audubon and Bachman
Goldman (Part II, Classification of wolves, p. 486, _In_ The wolves of
North America, American Wildlife Institute, May 29, 1944) referred two
specimens of the red wolf from Reeds Spring, Missouri, to the
subspecies _C. n. gregoryi_. Leopold and Hall (Jour. Mamm., 26(2):143,
July 19, 1945) referred wolves from 5 mi. N Gainesville and from 3 mi.
N Thomasville, both localities in Missouri, to _C. n. rufus_. The
identification of Leopold and Hall was made on the basis of the small
size of their specimens and they did not have the advantage of
comparative material. The locations of these and other records of
occurrence in Missouri and Arkansas suggest that the specimens from
Reeds Spring might be better referred to _C. n. rufus_, the more
western subspecies. An examination and comparison of the two specimens
from Reeds Spring, Nos. 244127 and 244527, Biological Surveys
Collection, discloses that they are intergrades between _C. n. rufus_
and _C. n. gregoryi_. They resemble _C. n. rufus_ in small size and
cranial characters, but are more nearly _C. n. gregoryi_ in the
darker, less brightly rufescent color of the pelage. Being, in this
case, more strongly influenced by the size and cranial features than
by the color, we consider the animals from Reeds Spring best referred
to _Canis niger rufus_.
_Transmitted July 15, 1952._