arctica_ for Alaskan specimens, applied it also to animals from
Kamchatka. At the same time he recognized the animal from the eastern
mainland of Siberia (as opposed to the peninsula of Kamchatka) under
the name _Mustela erminea orientalis_ Ognev 1928. Hall (1944:556)
applied the earlier proposed name _Putorius kaneii_ Baird 1857, to the
animal on the eastern mainland of Asia and proposed the new name
_Mustela erminea digna_ for the ermine of Kamchatka. In comparing
material of these two Asiatic races with topotypes and other specimens
of _M. e. arctica_ from Alaska, it seemed to me that the degree of
relationship, one with the other, was about the same. _M. e. digna_ has
a slightly larger preorbital region than _M. e. kaneii_, and the skull
is longer. In both of these particulars _digna_ approaches closer to
_arctica_. _M. e. kaneii_ has longer tympanic bullae and a wider skull
than _digna_ and therein approaches more towards _arctica_ than toward
_digna_. As nearly as I can make out, _digna_ and _kaneii_ show a
nearly equal degree of resemblance to _arctica_. Also the degree of
difference between _digna_ and _kaneii_ is about the same as between
either one of them and _arctica_. In view of the above considerations
the ermines of the New and Old worlds are here regarded as only
subspecifically distinct.
In the original description of _Putorius audax_ (here regarded as
inseparable from _Putorius arcticus_ Merriam) Barrett-Hamilton
erroneously designated the type locality as "Discovery Bay, North
Greenland" whereas he should have written Grinnell Land [= Ellesmere
Island of modern terminology] in place of Greenland. As reference to
Nares (1877 and 1878) will readily reveal, Discovery Bay is near 65° W
and 81° 40´ N, across Robeson Channel, to the west, from Greenland. The
label on the type specimen and the specimen register in the British
Museum of Natural History each designates the locality for this
specimen, the type of _audax_, as Discovery Bay without mention of
Greenland. The published accounts of Feilden (1878) and Nares (1877 and
1878) state that specimens of ermine were obtained at Discovery Bay.
Probably H. C. Hart is the collector of the specimen; he was the
naturalist attached to H. M. S. Discovery which wintered at Discovery
Bay while H. W. Feilden was the naturalist attached to H. M. S. Alert
which wintered a few miles southeast of Cape Sheridan, also on the
eastern coast of Ellesmere Island.
It is true that from these ships a trip was made into Greenland and an
ermine (only one individual it seems) was obtained there, but this
individual was the type specimen of _Mustela erminea polaris_, in the
account of which race something of the history of this specimen is
given.
With the material available--and it is not entirely adequate--I can
detect no features by which animals from the type locality of _audax_
can be distinguished from typical _arctica_ which latter name has
priority.
Intergradation with _richardsonii_ probably occurs completely across
the continent. Intergrades here referred to _arctica_ include those
from Fort Goodhope. The one defective specimen from Lake Lebarge,
Yukon, is not certainly identified as _arctica_ and how far west of
Teslin Lake the boundary-line between _arctica_ and _richardsonii_
should be drawn remains to be ascertained. The one specimen available
from Hinchenbrook Island, no. 912 Mus. Vert. Zoöl., an adult female, is
doubtfully referred to _arctica_ because the damaged tympanic bullae
appear to be no larger than in _alascensis_, and the size of the skull
is more as in _alascensis_ although intermediate between that race and
_arctica_. Shape of the skull is more as in _arctica_. Possibly more
nearly adequate material would show the existence on Hinchenbrook
Island of an insular race differing in about the same degree from
_arctica_ of the mainland as does the insular _kadiacensis_.
Nevertheless, the males from farther south at Cape Yakataga are in all
respects _arctica_ and this argues against near relationship to
_alascensis_ of the animal on Hinchenbrook Island. The three animals
seen from Yakutat Bay are so young as not to display clearly the
cranial characters of the subspecies but the extension of the color of
the underparts onto the underside of the tail in them and also in the
skin without corresponding skull from Glacier Bay, Alaska, is as in
_arctica_, the race to which they are referred, and gives substantial
basis for showing the geographic range of _arctica_ as extending this
far south along the Pacific Coast.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 281, arranged alphabetically
by Districts and from north to south in each District. Unless
otherwise indicated, specimens are in the collection of the United
States National Museum.
=Alaska.= Point Barrow, 22 (1[1], 1[2], 1[75], 4[1], 7[60], 6[74]);
Flaxman Island, 3; Collinson Point, 1[77]; Salirochet River,
1[77]; Hulahula River, 1[2]; 69°20´ & 141°, 1; Rampart House, 1;
Yukon River, mouth of Porcupine River, 18; Alatna River, 30 mi.
from mouth, 1; Koyakuk Riv., 16 mi. below Bettles, 4; Shelton,
1[75]; Kruzamepa, 1[75]; Tanana, 6; Boulder Creek, Chena River, 3;
Fort Reliance, 4; Yukon River, 20 miles above Circle, 2; Mts. near
Eagle, 42 (1[60]); Snake River, Nome, 1[9]; Nulato, 3;
No[e]wikakat Riv., 1; Kantishna, 3; Fairbanks, 5 (1 20 mi. E and 1
33 mi. E); Richardson, 1; N. Fk. Kuskokwim R. at base of Mt.
Sischo, 1; N. Fk. Kuskokwim R. at Junction with McKinley Fk., 1;
Nenana Riv., mouth of Maurice Cr., 1; Ober Cr., trib. of Jarvis
Cr., Delta Riv. region, 1; head of Savage Riv., near Jennie Cr.,
1; Wonder Lake, 1[74]; Bear Cr., 3; Unlakleet, 3; St. Michaels,
11; 125 mi. E and a little N of Knik, Cook Inlet, on S side
Matanuska Range, 1[60]; Hope, Cook Inlet, 1; Iak Lake, 1[68]; head
of Behring Riv., 1; Bethel, 2; Kenai Lake, 8; Kenai Peninsula, 13
(2[2]); He[i]nchenbrook Island, 1200 ft., 1[74]; Sunshine Point,
Kaliekh River, Yakataga Dist., 1[8]; Cape Yakataga, 3[8]; Yakutat
Bay, 3[74]; Seward, 7; Seldovia, 22 (4[2]); Homer, 1[2]; Cape
Elizabeth, 18; Akchookuk Lake, 1; Lake Weelooluk, 1; Kokwok Riv.,
80 mi. up, 4; Nushagak, 1; Nushagak Riv., 1; Kolukuk, 1; Egooshik
River at mouth, 1; Glacier Bay, 1; Becharof Lake, between Portage
Bay and Becharof Lake, 1; Ugashik Riv., 4; Chignik, 7; East base
Frosty Peak, 1; Pavlov Bay, 1[100]; Mt. Pavlof, 1[75]; Unimak
Island, 2 (1[75]).
=District of Franklin.= Cape Sheridan, 1[2]; Discovery Bay,
Ellesmere Island, 1[7] (type specimen of _Putorius audax_
Barrett-Hamilton); Axel Heiberg Island, 1[95]; Bache Peninsula,
Ellesmere Island, 1[77]; Bedford Pims Island, 4[75]; Craig Harbor,
2[77]; Cape Kellett, Banks Island, 1[77]; Franklin Isthmus, 1[95];
King William Island, 2[95].
=District of Keewatin.= Ualiak, Ogden Bay, 2[95].
=District of Mackenzie.= Baillie Island, 1[75]; Franklin Bay, 1;
Langton Bay, arm of Franklin Bay, 15 mi. S of, 1[2]; Cockburn
Point, 69°N, 115°W, 2[77]; Dolphin and Union Strait, 1[77];
Bernard Harbor, 2[77]; Kent Peninsula, 4[95]; Horton Riv., near
Fort Anderson, 1; Fort Anderson, 6; Anderson River, 3; Barry
Island, Bathurst Inlet, 1[77]; Fort McPherson, 1; Peels River, 2;
Arctic Red River, 8[75]; Fort Good Hope, 6; Clinton Colden, 1[2].
=Yukon.= Kamarkak, 1[77]; Herschel Island, 1[75]; Lapierres House,
2; Forty Mile, L. T. Coal Cr., 4[74]; head of Coal Cr., 1;
Macmillan River, Forks, 1; 20 mi. W. Ft. Selkirk, 1; Slims River,
near Kluane, 1[75]; head of Lake Lebarge, 1.
=Mustela erminea polaris= (Barrett-Hamilton)
Ermine
_Putorius arcticus polaris_ Barrett-Hamilton, Ann. and Mag. Nat.
Hist., 13 (ser. 7):393, May, 1904.
_Mustela erminea_, Manniche, Meddelelser on Grønland, 45:80-85, 1
fig., 1910.
_Mustela arctica polaris_, Miller, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull., 79:97,
December 31, 1912.
_Mustela erminea polaris_, Hall, Journ. Mamm., 26:179, July 19,
1945.
_Type._--Probably female, skin only; no. 78. 6. 19. 11, Brit. Mus.
Nat. Hist.; Gap Valley, 7-1/4 miles northeast Cape Brevoort, 82°
N, 59° 20´ W, Northwestern Greenland; June 15 or 16, 1876;
obtained by Lewis A. Beaumont.
The skin is in full, fresh summer pelage, fairly well stuffed
except for the tail which is unstuffed; the whole is in a good
state of preservation.
_Range._--North coast, and east coast as far south as Turner Sound
(between 69 and 70 degrees) of Greenland. See figure 25 on page
95.
_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _M. e. arctica_
in lighter upper parts (near [_j_] Buckthorn Brown rather than Raw
Umber or darker) and more intensely-colored underparts that are
Buff Yellow rather than Sulphur Yellow, Colonial Buff, or Primrose
Yellow; from _M. e. semplei_ in color in same fashion as from
_arctica_ and in larger size of skull.
_Description._--_Size._--Male: One subadult and two adults (one
ad. from Scøresby Sound and other two from Ymer Island) measure as
follows, the average being given first: Total length, 318 (301,
320, 315); length of tail, 72 (69, 70, 73); length of hind foot,
46.5 (44, 46, 47).
Female: No measurements taken in the flesh available but hind
foot, measuring 33.5 in the dried state and therefore
approximately 35 in life.
_Color._--As described in _Mustela erminea arctica_ except that
upper parts in summer near (_j_) Buckthorn Brown and tone 4 of
Dark Fawn of plate 307 to tone 1 of Raw Umber of plate 301 of
Oberthür and Dauthenay. Underparts Buff-Yellow. Least width of
color of underparts averaging, in 3 males, 66 (57-72) per cent of
greatest width of color of upper parts. Black tip of tail in same
males averaging 71 (70-72) mm. which is 99 (99-104) per cent of
length of tail-vertebrae.
The lighter-colored upper parts and more intensely yellow
underparts are the distinguishing features of the subspecies
_polaris_ in comparison with other races of American _M. erminea_.
_Skull._--Male (based on 5 adults from eastern Greenland): See
measurements. As described in _Mustela erminea richardsonii_
except that: Weight more (not recorded); basilar length, 41.3
(39.0-42.4); length of tooth-rows more than length of tympanic
bulla; breadth of rostrum measured across lacrimal processes
averaging more than a third of basilar length; interorbital
breadth more than distance between glenoid fossa and posterior
border of external auditory meatus; zygomatic breadth more than
distance between last upper molar and jugular foramen.
Female (based on 2 adults, Turner Sund and Kap Hoeg): See
measurements. As described in _Mustela erminea arctica_ except
that basilar length 36.8 (35.9, 37.8), and length of tooth-rows
not more than length of tympanic bulla. Skulls of females not in
hand when this comparison is written; only the recorded
measurements are available.
To me the skull of _polaris_ is indistinguishable from that of
_arctica_. Therefore the comparisons made of the skull of _arctica_
with those of other subspecies will apply also for _polaris_.
_Remarks._--In view of the heretofore erroneous assignment of the type
locality of _Mustela erminea audax_ to Greenland, pains were taken to
verify the statement by Barrett-Hamilton (1904:393) relative to the
type specimen of _polaris_. Taking pains thus seemed the more
worthwhile because in the specimen register at the British Museum of
Natural History, there is written to the right of catalogue numbers
78-6 = 19 nos. 1-11, "Discovery Bay Presented by Mr. Hart Arctic
Collection." This refers to no. 78.6.19.1. There are no ditto marks
below but by implication this data applies also to nos. 1-11, which
include the holotype of _polaris_. A label attached to the specimen
does however give the locality as "Hall Land" "N Greenland" and another
label has on it "Ermine, procured by Mr. Beaumont Greenland Lat 89°
Long W 59-20." The 89° is obviously a mistake (on the label or in my
transcription of it) for 82°.
Reference to Nares (1877:385) reveals that Lieutenant Lewis A.
Beaumont, under date of June 15 and 16, 1876, wrote in his field
journal as follows: "I shot an ermine." In the daily accounts of his
journey from Discovery Bay on Grinnell Land [= Ellesmere Island],
across Robeson Channel and along the north coast of Greenland to the
west base of Mount Farragut near 50° 30´ W he mentions the ermine only
this once. For several other kinds of animals, Beaumont mentions
individuals seen or shot, often with the notation that this is the
second, or third seen. This mention of a kind of animal whenever seen
was in accordance with orders. On page 39 of the Discovery Report (_op.
cit._, 1877) in "General orders to sledging parties" by Captain G. S.
Nares, Commanding the Expedition, we find ". . . note daily: IV State
the animals seen and those shot." Reference to the map facing page 358
of the (_op. cit._) report reveals that on the 15th and 16th, camps
were made by Beaumont in Gap Valley, each 7-3/4 miles northeast of Cape
Brevoort, one camp on either side of the 82° line, and separated from
each other by a distance of only 2-1/4 air line miles or 4-1/2 miles
march according to his journal.
These several data, then, are the bases for designating the type
locality of _M. e. polaris_, in the way that I have stated it at the
beginning of this account of the subspecies.
The light-colored upper parts and more intensely yellow underparts well
differentiate this subspecies from _arctica_ or _semplei_.
Intergradation is suggested by a skin, no. 1462, Copenhagen Zoological
Museum, from Axel Heibergs Land, the color of the underparts of which
agrees with that of specimens from Greenland. Also the color of the
upper parts is decidedly nearer that of animals from Greenland than to
that of specimens from Ponds Inlet, Tulican and Gifford River. No other
specimens west or south of Greenland suggest intergradation. In
Greenland itself, one adult, a female from Turner Sund, East Greenland,
has the underparts no more yellowish than in some specimens from
Melville Peninsula. This female is darker on the back than any one of
the other 10 specimens from Greenland in summer pelage examined at the
same time, but even so is not so dark colored as animals from Baffin
Island or other islands to the west of Greenland.
The final summation of information about this subspecies would have
been more precise if I had been able to have actually in hand, at the
time of writing, specimens preserved in the Copenhagen Zoological
Museum. The war made it impractical to secure the loan of these as
previously planned. Even so, the measurements and notes on color that I
obtained from this material, in 1937, in Copenhagen, suffice to prove
that the subspecies _polaris_ is well set off in color from the other
American subspecies of _Mustela erminea_.
The best material of this subspecies is in the University Zoological
Museum at Copenhagen, Denmark.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 35, arranged by locality from
the western end of the north coast of Greenland, eastward and then
southward down the east coast. Unless otherwise indicated,
specimens are in the Universitetets Zoologisk Museum, Købnhavn,
Danmark.
Gap Valley, 7-1/4 mi. NE Cape Brevoort, 82 N, 59 20´ W, 1 (British
Mus.); Dragon Point, 1; Danmarks Havn (Fjeldene ved Baadskjeret,
1; lille Fjeld, 1; Lyservig, 1; harefjeldets, 4; Rypefjeldet, 1;
Baadskjeret, 1; Danmarkshavn, 3) 12; Christians Havn, 1 (not found
on map); Shannon Island, 4; Germania Havn, 2; Claveringoen, 1;
Carls Havn, 1; Myggbukta, 2 (British Mus.); Ymer[s] Island, 2
(Mus. Comp. Zool.); Kap Hoegh, Jamesonsland, 1 (Berlin Zool.
Mus.); Scoresby Sund, 3; Turner Sund, 4.
=Mustela erminea semplei= Sutton and Hamilton
Ermine
Plates 2, 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11
_Mustela arctica semplei_ Sutton and Hamilton, Ann. Carnegie Mus.,
21:79, February 13, 1932.
_Mustela arctica labiata_ Degerbøl, Rept. 5th Thule Exped., 2 (no.
4):25, 1935, type from Malugsitaq, Melville Peninsula, Canada.
_Mustela erminea semplei_, Hall, Journ. Mamm., 26:179, July 19,
1945.
_Type._--Male, subadult, skull and skin; no. 6470, Carnegie Mus.;
Coral Inlet, South Bay, Southampton Island, Canada; October 8,
1929; obtained by George Miksch Sutton, original no. 3M.
The skull has two holes in it: one is immediately above the left
canine, and the other (2 × 5.5 mm.) is 3 millimeters to the left
of the median line at the juncture of the frontal and parietal
bones. From this last mentioned hole a fracture extends back
halfway to the lambdoidal crest. The tip of the left upper canine
is broken off. Otherwise the skull is complete, and the teeth all
are present and entire. The skin is well made and in fresh white
winter pelage except for a trace of the old brown summer pelage on
the back, on the tail, on the anterior borders of the ears, and in
a spot 11 mm. long and 8 mm. wide on the nose.
_Range._--Baffin and Southampton islands, Melville Peninsula and
west side of Hudsons Bay as far south as Eskimo Point. See figure
25 on page 95.
_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _M. e. arctica_,
in that, in males, hind foot less than 44 and basilar length less
than 41 and in that females average smaller, their skulls being
only about 10 per cent lighter; from _M. e. polaris_ in darker
upper parts (Raw Umber rather than Buckthorn Brown) and
less-intensely-colored underparts that are Sulphur Yellow,
Colonial Buff or Primrose Yellow rather than Buff Yellow, and in
lesser size in the same fashion as from _arctica_; from _M. e.
richardsonii_, of both sexes, in that proximal two-thirds of under
side of tail colored same as underparts rather than same as upper
parts and by least interorbital breadth amounting to more, instead
of less, than distance between glenoid fossa and posterior border
of external auditory meatus.
_Description._--_Size._--Male: Ten adults and subadults, from
Southampton Island, yield average and extreme measurements as
follows: Total length, 282 (267-318); length of tail, 77 (59-87);
length of hind foot, 40 (38-43).
Female: Four subadults from Southampton Island yield average and
extreme measurements as follows: Total length, 271 (256-288);
length of tail, 71 (69-74); length of hind foot, 35 (33-38).
_Color._--As described in _M. e. arctica_ except that least width
of color of underparts averaging, in 7 males, 59 (45-81) per cent
of greatest width of color of upper parts. Black tip of tail in 19
male topotypes averaging 72 (64-83) mm. which is 91 (75-122) per
cent of length of tail-vertebrae.
_Skull._--Male (based on 2 adults and 10 subadults from
Southampton Island): See measurements and plates 2-4. As described
in _Mustela erminea richardsonii_ except that: Weight, 2.0 (in one
subadult) grams; basilar length, 37.5 (35.7-39.9); length of
tooth-rows more than length of tympanic bulla; breadth of rostrum
more than a third of basilar length; interorbital breadth more
than distance between glenoid fossa and posterior border of
external auditory meatus; zygomatic breadth more than distance
between last upper molar and jugular foramen.
Female (based on 1 adult and 4 subadults from Southampton Island):
See measurements and plates 9-11. As described in _Mustela erminea
richardsonii_ except that: Weight, 1.35 (in one adult) grams;
basilar length, 34.2; breadth of rostrum more than 30 per cent of
basilar length; interorbital breadth more than distance between
glenoid fossa and posterior border of external auditory meatus;
zygomatic breadth more or less than (approximately same as)
distance between last upper molar and jugular foramen.
In comparison with _richardsonii_, the skulls of males averaged smaller
in every measurement taken except breadth of rostrum and interorbital
breadth which are more, and zygomatic breadth and length of inner lobe
of M1 which are approximately the same; skull about 20 per cent
lighter; in relation to basilar length, preorbital region longer and
broader in every part measured. Female averages larger, in every part
measured; 23 per cent heavier; in relation to basilar length, every
other measurement more. It is noteworthy that the skull of the male is
smaller and the skull of the female larger than in _richardsonii_.
Differences from _arctica_ are: Size less, in each sex; males about 40
per cent and females 10 per cent lighter; in males, skull more rounded
in outline as viewed from above because zygomatic arches arise less
abruptly from skull; in males tympanic bullae do not project so far
ventrally from squamosal floor of braincase; with these exceptions,
skull of _semplei_ can be said to be a smaller edition of that of
_arctica_.
From _polaris_, _semplei_ differs, cranially, in the same way as from
_arctica_.
_Remarks._--There is a slight increase in size of ermines toward the
north which probably is the result of intergradation between _semplei_
and _arctica_. Specimens from the northern part of Baffin Island are
larger than those from farther south. Specimens from the mainland west
of Southampton Island may owe their smaller (than in _arctica_) size to
intergradation with _richardsonii_ almost as much as to intergradation
with _semplei_.
Degerbøl's name _Mustela arctica labiata_ was applied to specimens,
which to me are indistinguishable from topotypes of _Mustela arctica
semplei_, which latter name has three years priority. Degerbøl
(1935:34) states that Malugsitaq, Melville Peninsula, is the type
locality. He did not designate a type specimen. Reference to his
account (_op. cit._:26) shows that he lists five specimens from the
type locality, or more precisely as "Malugsitaq, Lyon Inlet. 5 summer
skins. [M] [M] June-July 1922. P. F., CN. 2262-2266." On labels
attached to these specimens, "Lyon Inlet" is replaced with "Melville
Peninsula." On July 28, 1937, Degerbøl and I together examined these
specimens in his laboratory. Because no. 2262 is first mentioned I
regard it as the type. It is a juvenal male, skull and skin, no. 2262
(20.5 1931.8), Univ. Zool. Mus. Copenhagen, obtained in June or July of
1922 by Peter Freuchen whose original number was / s 2324. The specimen
is one of 5 males taken at the same locality by the same collector and
they bear identical data as to date. They look to be of the same
litter for all are roughly of the same size and each retains milk
teeth.
Additional females, with external measurements carefully taken, are
much needed from Southampton Island, because the available females are
insufficient to show the degree of sexual dimorphism. If the meager
data available be accepted, the difference in size between the two
sexes is less than in other subspecies. My own feeling is that a better
sample of females would show the secondary sexual difference in size to
be more than available data indicate.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 183, arranged from north to
south by islands, or regions attached to the mainland, and from
north to south in each region or island. Unless otherwise
indicated, specimens are in the Zoological Museum, University of
Copenhagen, Denmark.
=Baffin Island.= Pond[s] Inlet, 8; (5[77]); Tulukan (sometimes
spelled Tulukat), 6; Cape Eglinton, 1[7]; Gifford River, 2; Clyde,
3[86]; head of Cumberland Sound, 1[91]; Pangnirtung, 2[77];
Kingnait Fiord, 1[91]; Kikkulin Island, Cumberland Sound, 1[7];
Blacklead Island, Cumberland Gulf, 1; merely Cumberland Gulf,
1[7]; merely east Baffin Island, 34[7]; Cape Dorset, 2[2]; SW
coast of Baffin Island, 1[75].
=Melville Peninsula.= Iglulik, 3; Pingerqalik, 2; Kingadjuaq,
Amitsog, 3; Rae Isthmus, 3; Lyons Inlet, 13(9[2]); M[N?]
alugsitaq, Lyon Inlet, 5; Itibdjeriang, 2; Repulse Bay, 27 (22[2],
2[19]); Drichetts Cove, Hurd Channel, 1[2]; Gore Bay, 1; Haviland
Bay, 1; Cleveland Harbor, Frozen Strait, 1.
=Southampton Island and adjacent islands.= Danish Island, 11;
Vansittart Island, 4. Southampton Island: Coral Inlet, 19 (1[77],
18[9]); Prairie Point, 1[9]; Munnimunnek Point, South Bay, 5[9];
Native Point, 1[9]; Ranger Rim, 1[9]; Koodloatok (not found on
map), 1[77]; merely Southampton Island, 1[77]; Gore Bay, 1[2]; Fox
Channel, 2[2].
=Mainland to west of Southampton Island.= Cape Fullerton, 3
(1[77], 2[2]); Chesterfield Inlet, 4 (1[77], 1[9]); Tavane, 1[77];
N of Wagner Inlet, 1; Eskimo Point, 1[86].
=Mustela erminea kadiacensis= (Merriam)
Ermine
Plates 2, 3, 4, 9, 10 and 11
[_Putorius arcticus_] subspecies _kadiacensis_ Merriam, N. Amer.
Fauna, 11:16, June 30, 1896.
_Putorius kadiacensis_, Preble, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington,
12:169, August 10, 1898.
_Mustela kadiacensis_, Miller, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull., 79:97,
December 31, 1912.
_Mustela erminea kadiacensis_, Hall, Journ. Mamm., 26:179, July 19,
1945.
_Type._--Male, subadult, skull and skin; no. 65290, U. S. Nat.
Mus., Biol. Surv. Coll.; Kodiak Island, Alaska; April 25, 1894;
obtained by B. J. Bretherton, original no. 304.
The skull lacks the basioccipital, part of the basiphenoid, the
occipital region on the right side and the posterior part of the
right tympanic bulla. The third, upper, left incisor is missing.
Otherwise the teeth all are present and entire.