Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American Marsupials, Insectivores and Carnivores Part 3

============================================+========================== 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. Was.h.i.+ngton, 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 sh.o.r.es 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 c.u.mberland 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 c.u.mberland 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 a.s.signed to _Canis lupus griseus_ an extensive geographic range in central Canada. Later, Goldman (Part II, Cla.s.sification of wolves, p. 395 and 424, _In_ The Wolves of North America, American Wildlife Inst.i.tute, 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, Was.h.i.+ngton, 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 a.s.signable 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 c.u.mberland 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, Cla.s.s 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, Was.h.i.+ngton, vol. 8, p. 104 (1857), July 14, 1858, based on _Canis Lupus-Griseus_ Sabine 1823 from the vicinity of c.u.mberland House, Saskatchewan.

1823. _Canis Lupus-Griseus_ Sabine, No. V, Zool. App. p. 654, _In_ Narrative of a journey to the sh.o.r.es of the Polar Sea ... by John Franklin (_nec [Canis] Griseus_ Boddaert, Elench. Anim. p. 97, 1794, a synonym of _Urocyon cinereaorgenteus_ (Schreber), Saugethiere, 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 ident.i.ty 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 a.s.sistance in the present case. The specimen from Norway House differs from _C. l. hudsonicus_ in larger size of skull and stouter, blunter, pos...o...b..tal 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, Cla.s.sification of wolves, p. 486, _In_ The wolves of North America, American Wildlife Inst.i.tute, 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_.