averaging smaller in every measurement taken with no overlap in several
dimensions; 40 per cent lighter; in relation to basilar length, rostrum
(orbitonasal length) longer and skull slightly broader interorbitally.
Females average smaller in every cranial and dental measurement taken
with no overlap in basilar length, length of tooth-rows and length of
tympanic bulla; 22 per cent lighter; breadth of rostrum more, rather
than less, than 30 per cent of basilar length; in relation to basilar
length, pre-and interorbital parts of skull larger, and mastoid breadth
more.
Differences from males of _olympica_ are: size larger with no overlap
in most measurements; 50 per cent heavier; tympanic bullae longer than
upper tooth-rows rather than of about equal length; in relation to
basilar length, rostrum shorter, braincase wider and deeper, zygomata
more expanded. Females are larger with no overlap in most measurements;
35 per cent heavier; in relation to basilar length, pre-and
interorbital regions narrower, braincase deeper and wider across
mastoids.
Differences from _streatori_, in males, are: skull averaging larger in
every cranial and dental measurement taken; 36 per cent heavier;
tympanic bulla longer than, instead of about same length as,
upper tooth-rows. In females the inner lobe of M1 is shorter
anteroposteriorly; otherwise all measurements of _fallenda_ average
larger and it is 33 per cent heavier; rostrum and interorbital region
broader in relation to remainder of skull.
In comparison with _gulosa_, skulls of males differ as follows:
averaging larger in every measurement taken with no overlap in several
dimensions; 50 per cent heavier; tympanic bullae with anterior margins
projecting slightly below squamosals rather than flush with same;
length of bulla more than, rather than about same as, that of upper
tooth-rows. Considering the great difference in size, the relative
proportions are remarkably alike. In females, length of inner lobe of
M1 about the same; otherwise averaging larger in every measurement
taken; 44 per cent lighter; relative to basilar length, tooth-rows
longer, skull wider across zygomata and mastoids, rostrum and
interorbital regions slightly narrower, skull shallower in plane of
last upper molars.
Comparisons with _haidarum_, _invicta_ and _anguinae_ are made in
accounts of those subspecies.
_Remarks._--Until the name _fallenda_ was proposed in the course of the
present study, most of the specimens of this race were assigned to
_streatori_.
Intergradation with _streatori_ is complete as it is also with
_invicta_ and _richardsonii_, in other words with each of the
subspecies whose ranges meet that of _fallenda_. In color and in size
the difference is least between _streatori_ and _fallenda_. As between
_fallenda_ and _invicta_ the size is not greatly different and the
intergradation in color is gradual. Between _fallenda_ and
_richardsonii_ intergradation is somewhat different and to fully
appreciate its nature we should remember that the color of _fallenda_
resembles that of the saturate coastal races, _streatori_, _anguinae_
and _olympica_ although the black tip of the tail is longer. In this
latter feature and in several cranial details, as well as in greater
degree of secondary sexual variation in size, _fallenda_ resembles
_richardsonii_. Because the two differ more than do most subspecies of
ermine whose ranges meet, some of the intergrades at first inspection
appear to be widely different from either parent stock. For example,
specimens from Alta Lake, British Columbia, may give this impression
because the combination of large size and dark color suggests a kind of
ermine different from either _fallenda_ or _richardsonii_. In no
instance, however, has there been found in these intergrades any
character other than those occurring in one or the other of the two
parent races.
Along the coast in the north part of the geographic range assigned to
_fallenda_, some specimens nearly typical of _richardsonii_ have been
taken so near to the place where fairly typical _fallenda_ was
obtained that I have doubted whether there is intergradation in the
usual fashion in this area; more specimens will have to be obtained
from this coastal area to resolve the doubt one way or the other.
The winter pelage is brown in all specimens at most localities. The
only white pelage seen was in each of three specimens from Glacier,
Whatcom County, Washington. A fourth specimen from there is in brown
winter pelage. At any one locality there is much variation in the
degree to which the dark color of the upper parts encroaches on the
area that in most other races is light-colored. An extreme degree of
encroachment is shown by a specimen taken on December 1, 1935, by R. A.
Cummings, at Vancouver, British Columbia, in which the light color
occurs only in three restricted areas, the chin, the throat and the
lower breast; otherwise the coat is brown. There are other specimens,
for instance from the type locality, which differ mainly in having an
additional white spot in the inguinal region. The opposite extreme, in
a specimen also from the type locality, is where the least width of the
light-colored underparts on the abdominal region is a third of the
circumference of the body. The two extremes are connected by a dozen
intermediate stages. Of 64 specimens in which the color of the lips was
carefully examined, one, from Vancouver, has both the upper and
lower-lips brown; 9 have both the upper and lower-lips white; and 54
have the upper lips brown and the lower lips white.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 72, arranged by localities
from north to south. Unless otherwise indicated, specimens are in
the National Museum of Canada.
=British Columbia.= Horseshoe Lake, Stillwater, 2; Vancouver,
1[74]; Point Grey, 1[31]; Port Moody, 5[91]; Chilliwack, 8 (2[75],
4[91], 1[60]); Sumas, 19 (18[75], 1[60]); Thurstons Ranch, 2;
Cultus Lake, 2; Mt. Baker Range, 5[75]; Lihumption Park, 1;
Huntingdon, 14; Tami Hy Creek, 1.
=Washington.= _Whatcom County_: Semiahmoo, 1[91]; New Whatcom,
1[68]; Lake Whatcom, 2[91]; 5 mi. W Glacier, 1[51]; Glacier (3 at
900 ft.), 4[91]; E Side Easton Glacier, Mt. Baker, 1[55]; Morovitz
Guard Station, 831 ft., 1[55].
=Mustela erminea olympica= Hall
Ermine
Plates 5, 6, 7, 12, 13 and 14
_Mustela erminea olympica_ Hall, Journ. Mamm., 26:81, February 27,
1945; Hall, Journ. Mamm., 26:181, July 19, 1945.
_Mustela rixosa_, Svihla and Svihla, Murrelet, 13:24, January,
1932.
_Mustela rixosa rixosa_, Svihla and Svihla, Murrelet, 14:39, May,
1933.
_Type._--Male, adult, skull and skin; no. 90738, U. S. Nat. Mus.,
Biol. Surv. Coll.; near head of Soleduc River, 4500 ft., Olympic
Mountains, Clallam County, Washington; April 28, 1897; obtained by
Vernon Bailey, original no. 6213.
The skin is well prepared and in good condition. The skull (plates
5-7) is unbroken and the teeth all are present and entire.
_Range._--Olympic Peninsula, Washington, south to Olympia. See
figures 25, 27 on pages 95, 149.
_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _M. e.
anguinae_, in males, by lesser average size, hind foot ordinarily
less than 33.4, and interorbital breadth ordinarily less than 8.5,
in females by smaller size, total length less than 235, tail less
than 65, hind foot less than 27.5, basilar length less than 30.2;
from _M. e. fallenda_, in males, by length of hind foot less than
33, black tip of tail less than 36.5, weight of skull less than
1.2 grams, basilar length less than 33.5, in females length of
hind foot less than 25.5, weight of skull less than 0.6 grams,
basilar length less than 28.4; from _M. e. streatori_ by smaller
size, in males hind foot less than 33.0, basilar length ordinarily
less than 32.5, in females by hind foot ordinarily not longer than
24, by breadth of rostrum less than 8.6, depth of braincase at
posterior border of upper molars less than 7.6.
_Description._--_Size._--Male: Twelve individuals of adult
proportions yield average and extreme measurements as follows:
Total length, 243 (205-269); length of tail, 65 (60-74); length of
hind foot, 31 (29-32).
Female: Corresponding measurements of six females are: 196
(188-208), 52 (45-60?), 23.4 (22.7-24.0). An adult weighs 30
grams.
_Color._--As described in _Mustela erminea streatori_ except that
least width of color of underparts averaging, in 12 males of adult
proportions, 5 (0-11) per cent of greatest width of color of upper
parts. Black tip of tail averaging, in same series, 26 (20-35)
mm., which is 40 (31-58) per cent (average the same as in
_streatori_) of length of tail-vertebrae.
_Skull._--Male (based on 5 adults): See measurements and plates
5-7. As described in _Mustela erminea richardsonii_ except that:
Weight, 1.0 (0.9-1.1) grams; basilar length, 31.8 (30.6-32.5);
length of tooth-rows more or less than (about equal to) length of
tympanic bulla.
Female (illustrated by 3 adults): See measurements and plates
12-14. As described in _Mustela erminea richardsonii_ except that:
Weight, 0.55 (0.52-0.58) grams; basilar length, 27.1 (26.7-27.5);
breadth of rostrum more than 30 per cent of basilar length.
In comparison with _streatori_, skulls of corresponding sex average
smaller in every measurement taken with no overlap in most of those of
females. Exception is to be made for the inner lobe of M1 in males
where the size is the same. By weight males are smaller by 10 per cent
and females by 14 per cent. In relation to other parts of the skull the
tympanic bullae are narrower and in females they are shorter as well.
Comparison with _anguinae_ and _fallenda_ has been made in the accounts
of those subspecies.
_Remarks._--The smaller size, especially of females, is the principal
feature distinguishing this race from _streatori_. On the basis of
available data the female of _olympica_ is smaller than that of any
other race and hence is the smallest adult weasel of the species
_erminea_, in either the Old World or in America.
Intergradation with _streatori_ is indicated by specimens from the
southern end of Puget Sound. These specimens are intermediate in size
between typical examples of the two races concerned.
The color of the upper parts is uniform and the color pattern varies
less than in geographically adjoining races. The white color of the
underparts is restricted to a thin line on the abdominal region, but
widens out posteriorly in the inguinal region and anteriorly over the
pectoral region, throat, chin and lower lips. The upper lips are brown.
The brown of the upper parts extends around in front of each foreleg,
the two brown areas not quite meeting on the lower throat. The above
description applies to each of the 19 specimens examined with regard to
these details. Every specimen seen in the winter coat was brown, not
white.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 20, arranged by counties from
north to south. Unless otherwise indicated, specimens are in the
U. S. National Museum.
=Washington.= _Clallam County_: Clallam Bay, 2 (1[74], 1[94]);
Elwha, 2[10]; Johnsons Ranch, 1[60]; Happy Lake, 1[60]; Boulder
Lake, 2[60]; near head of Soleduc River, 4500 ft., 1; 12 mi. S
Port Angeles, 1[10]. _Jefferson County_: Hayes Cr., 2000 ft.,
Elwha River, 2; head N Fork Quinault River, 4000 ft., 1;
Duckabush, 3; N Fork Skokomish River, 1. _Mason County_: Lake
Cushman, 2[76]; 4 mi. S Olympia, 1.
=Mustela erminea streatori= (Merriam)
Ermine
Plates 5, 6, 7, 12, 13 and 14
_Putorius streatori Merriam_, N. Amer. Fauna, 11:13, pl. 2, figs.
5, 5a, 6, 6a, June 30, 1896.
_Putorius cicognanii_, Baird, Mamm. N. Amer., p. 161, 1858 (part
unless no. 2395 was a female of _M. frenata_).
_Putorius pusillus_, Baird, Mamm. N. Amer., p. 159, 1858 (part).
_Putorius (Gale) vulgaris_, Coues, Fur-bearing animals, p. 102,
1877 (part).
_Mustela streatori streatori_, Miller, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull.,
79:96, December 31, 1912; Grinnell, Univ. California Publ. Zoöl.,
40:101, September 26, 1933.
_Mustela cicognanii streatori_, Hall, Murrelet, 12:22, January,
1931; Hall, Univ. California Publ. Zoöl., 38:417, November 8,
1932.
_Mustela erminea streatori_, Hall, Journ. Mamm., 26:77, February
27, 1945; Hall, Journ. Mamm., 26:181, July 19, 1945.
_Mustela rixosa_, Beer, Journ. Mamm., 29:296, August 31, 1948.
_Type._--Male, adult, skull and skin; no. 76646, U. S. Nat. Mus.,
Biol. Surv. Coll.; Mount Vernon, Skagit Valley, Skagit County,
Washington; February 29, 1896; obtained by D. R. Luckey, original
no. 3.
The skull is unbroken and the teeth all are present and entire.
The skin, in brown winter pelage, is stuffed and in good
condition.
_Range._--Western Washington along eastern side of Puget Sound,
western Oregon from the Cascades to the coast, and northwestern
California south in the humid coastal district nearly to the
Golden Gate. See figures 25, 27 on pages 95, 149.
_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _M. e.
anguinae_, in male, by sagittal crest present and hind foot
ordinarily less than 33.5, in female by hind foot less than 27.5,
basilar length less than 30.2; from _M. e. fallenda_, in both
sexes, by black tip of tail less than half of length of
tail-vertebrae, in males hind foot less than 33.7, tympanic bulla
about same length as, instead of longer than, upper tooth-rows;
weight of skull less than 1-1/4 grams, in female weight of skull
less than 0.7 grams, length of lateral side of P4 less than 4 mm.;
from _M. e. olympica_, by larger size, in males hind foot more
than 33.0, basilar length ordinarily more than 32.5, in females by
hind foot ordinarily longer than 24, by breadth of rostrum more
than 8.6, depth of braincase at posterior border of upper molars
more than 7.6; from _M. e. gulosa_ and _muricus_, in both sexes,
by upper lips brown (not white), light color of underparts
extending down hind leg no farther than knee, depth of skull at
posterior border of upper molars more than 7.7 in females and
ordinarily more than 9.6 in males, further from _muricus_ by tail
more than 62 in males and more than 49 in females; from _M. e.
invicta_ by upper lips white (not brown), in males hind foot more
than 36 and basilar length more than 35, in females hind foot more
than 29.5 and basilar length more than 30.5.
_Description._--_Size._--Male: Twelve adults from Blaine and
Tillamook, Oregon, yield average and extreme measurements as
follows: Total length, 255 (245-275); length of tail, 72 (64-80);
length of hind foot, 31.5 (30.0-33.5).
Female: Seven adults from Blaine and Tillamook, Oregon, yield
average and extreme measurements as follows: Total length, 214
(193-230); length of tail, 55 (50-63); length of hind foot, 25
(24-27).
_Color._--Winter and summer pelages indistinguishable; upper parts
uniform and ranging from Raw Umber to slightly darker (16_n_), and
about tones 1 to 3 of Dark Chocolate of Oberthür and Dauthenay,
pl. 342; underparts white, in summer rarely with a faint buffy
suffusion in pectoral region; color of underparts extends from
chin, and often lower lips, posteriorly to inguinal region,
distally on posterior sides of forelegs onto antipalmar faces of
toes (sometimes interrupted at and above wrist) and on medial
sides of hind legs hardly to knee. Least width of color of
underparts averaging, in twelve adults from Blaine and Tillamook,
10 (0-47) per cent of greatest width of color of upper parts.
Black tip of tail, in same series, averaging 28 (24-33) mm. which
is 40 (34-47) per cent of length of tail-vertebrae.
_Skull._--Male (based on 12 adults): See measurements and plates
5-7. As described in _Mustela erminea richardsonii_ except that:
Weight, 1.1 (1.0-1.2) grams; basilar length, 33.2 (32.5-33.8);
length of tooth-rows more or less than (about same as) length of
tympanic bulla.
Female (based on 7 adults): See measurements and plates 12-14. As
described in _Mustela erminea richardsonii_ except that: Weight,
0.64 (0.60-0.67) grams; basilar length, 28.5 (27.6-29.5); breadth
of rostrum more than 30 per cent of basilar length.
Comparison with _anguinae_, _fallenda_, _olympica_, _gulosa_ and
_muricus_ is made in accounts of those subspecies.
_Remarks._--This weasel is rare in collections and the best material of
it was obtained by Alex Walker in Tillamook County, Oregon, where he
resides. The almost ideal series of 30 specimens showed the range of
secondary sexual, age, and individual variation expectable in the small
ermines of the Pacific Coast of the United States and was the means of
allowing satisfactory decision on questions of classification in the
related subspecies in which individuals are of comparable size.
Intergradation with each of the geographically adjoining subspecies,
_olympica_, _fallenda_, _invicta_, _gulosa_ and _muricus_ is shown by
specimens examined. With the last mentioned subspecies, intergradation
is shown by two specimens from as far south as Siskiyou County,
California, assigned to _muricus_.
The application of the name _streatori_ is difficult because it was
based on a specimen from a place where two clines cross. The
north-south cline is one of size which decreases to the south. The
east-west cline is one of intensity of color, the westernmost (coastal)
population being the most intensely colored. The type locality of
_streatori_ is at the place where two lines perpendicular to one
another, and representing the two clines, cross. This intersection is
near the place where the ranges of several subspecies meet. The
nomenclatural question is, to which one of 6 subspecies should the name
_streatori_ apply. Specimens from barely within the geographic
boundaries of four of these subspecies so closely resemble topotypes of
_streatori_ that a student with material at his disposal from only the
area about Puget Sound naturally would apply the name _streatori_ to
all of his specimens, and knowing even of the arrangement adopted in
the present account the student will have difficulty in identifying his
specimens according to it. Not only will the student find the
arrangement difficult, but probably unsatisfactory if he thinks of
_streatori_ as being the kind of animal represented by topotypes. I
conceive of topotypes of _streatori_ as being nontypical of the
subspecies; they are intergrades with _fallenda_. My aim was initially
to work out the geographic ranges of subspecies and only subsequently
to apply names, according to which type localities fell within the
previously determined geographic ranges. By this procedure no greater
weight was given to a holotype and to topotypes than to specimens from
any other locality.
Of the 40 specimens seen in winter pelage, only one is white. It is
from Darrington in the Cascade Mountains of Washington. The 39 others
are brown and I doubt that the white pelage ever occurs in the low
coastal territory included within the geographic range of _streatori_.
This subspecies resembles _anguinae_ and _olympica_ in the great
extension of area of the dark-colored upper parts at the expense of the
area of the light-colored underparts. The usual arrangement is one
where the brown of the two sides nearly meets on the midventral line
leaving a sizable, inguinal area of light color connected by a thin
line to the sizable area of light color on the pectoral region. The
light color of the pectoral area ordinarily is continuous with the
light-colored area of the throat and chin but the dark color of the
upper parts extends around in front of each foreleg. These extensions
of dark color meet on the chest in only 2 of the 56 specimens examined
in this regard. Across the abdomen the dark color is continuous in 4 of
the 56 specimens. The lower lips are brown instead of white in only 3
individuals and in 2 of these the lip of one side is brown and its
opposite is white. The variation in color-pattern is less than in
_anguinae_ or than in _fallenda_.
_Specimens examined._--Total number, 63, arranged alphabetically
by states, then by counties from north to south in each state.
Unless otherwise indicated, specimens are in the U. S. National
Museum.
=California.= _Humboldt County_: 10 mi. NE Carlotta, 1[74].
_Mendocino County_: Russian Gulch State Park, 1[74]. _Sonoma
County_: Mouth of Gualala River, 1[74].
=Oregon.= _Clatsop County_: Astoria, 1. _Tillamook County_:
Tillamook, 16 (14[14], 1[59]); Blaine, 12 (7[14], 2[59], 1[93],
2[76]). _Washington County_: Beaverton, 1[60]; Forest Grove,
1[36]. _Clackamas County_: Oregon City, 1[46]. _Lincoln County_:
Newport, 1. _Linn County_: Sico, 1[46]. _Lane County_: Vida Fish
Hatchery, 2[101]; McKenzie Bridge, 1[101]; Mercer, 1[75]. _Klamath
County_: Deschutes River, 6 mi. E Crescent Lake, 1[101]. _Douglas
County_: Gardiner, 1[60]. _Curry County_: Port Orford, 1; Gold
Beach, 2[60].
=Washington.= _Skagit County_: N end Whidby Island opposite
Deception Pass, 1; Hamilton, 4; Mt. Vernon, 3. _Snohomish County_:
Oso, 550 ft., 1; Darrington, 600 ft., 1. _Pacific County_:
Wallicut River, 2 mi. E Ilwaco, 1[74]. _Wahkiakum County_: 4 mi.
E. Skamokawa, 3[74]. _Cowlitz County_: 4 mi. E mouth Kalama River,
2[74]; 6 mi. E mouth Kalama River, 1[74]. _Skamania County_: 15
mi. N Govt. Springs, 1300 ft., 1.
=Mustela erminea gulosa= Hall
Ermine
Plates 5, 6, 7, 12, 13 and 14
_Mustela erminea gulosa_ Hall, Journ. Mamm., 26:84, February 27,
1945; Hall, Journ. Mamm., 26:181, July 19, 1945.
_Putorius streatori_ Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 11:14, June 30, 1896.
_Type._--Male, subadult, skull and skin; no. 81998, U. S. Nat.
Mus., Biol. Surv. Coll.; Trout Lake, Klickitat County, Washington;
February 3, 1897; obtained by P. Schmid, original no. 147.
The skin is in brown winter pelage, and appears to have been made
up from a skin split along the midventral line from the anus to
the forelegs. It probably was dried by a trapper, is well made,
and lacks a patch of hair on the left flank but otherwise is in
good condition. The skull lacks the central part of the left
zygomatic arch and the posterior two-thirds of the right one. The
right m2 is represented only by an abortive stump or the broken
root, and i1 and i2 on each side are absent; otherwise, the teeth
all are present and entire.
_Range._--Cascades of Washington from northeastern King County
south to Mount Adams. See figures 25, 27 on pages 95, 149.
_Characters for ready recognition._--Differs from _M. e. invicta_
and _fallenda_, in both sexes, by anterior margin of tympanic
bulla flush with squamosal rather than projecting below floor of
braincase (difference slight in females), in males hind foot less
than 33.5, weight of skull less than 1-1/4 grams, basilar length
less than 33.9, in females by total length less than 222, hind
foot shorter than 26, weight of skull less than 0.7 grams, basilar
length less than 29; from _M. e. muricus_, in both sexes, by upper
parts darker, tone 4 of Chocolate or darker (see description of
color) least width of light-colored underparts averaging one-third
instead of approximately two-thirds of greatest width of
dark-colored upper parts, in males, on the average, tail more than
65, weight of skull more than 0.90 grams, basilar length more than
30.8 mm.; from _M. e. streatori_, in both sexes, by upper lips
white (not brown), light color of underparts extending down hind
legs below knee, depth of skull at posterior border of upper
molars less than 7.7 in females and ordinarily less than 9.6 in
males.
_Description._--_Size._--Male: One adult and four subadults from
Mount Rainier yield average and extreme measurements as follows:
Total length, 253 (238-266); length of tail, 75 (70-83); length of
hind foot, 31.5 (30-33). Corresponding measurements of 9 subadults
from Trout Lake are: 257 (233-282); length of tail, 76 (56-83);
length of hind foot, 30.2 (26-33).
Female: Of adults, 2 from Mount Rainier and 2 from Trout Lake
measure as follows: Total length, 202, 203, 216, 210; length of
tail, 54, 52, 57, 51; length of hind foot, 24, 24, 25, 24. The
averages for these females are 208, 54, 24.3.