[1]Measured dry.
Conepatus mesoleucus venaticusGoldman
When Goldman (Jour. Mamm., 3:40, February 10, 1921) namedC. m. venaticusfrom 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 nameConepatus 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 Cañon, 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 forC. m. venaticus(Goldman,loc. cit.) reveals that the specimens concerned agree in narrowness of skull withC. m. venaticus(C. m. mearnsiis relatively wider) and it is on this basis that we refer the specimens toConepatus mesoleucus venaticus.
Urocyon cinereoargenteus costaricensisGoodwin
J. A. Allen (Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 20:48, February 29, 1904) listed two specimens of gray fox from Pozo Azul, Costa Rica, asUrocyon 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 ofUrocyon cinereoargenteus costaricensisto which subspecies we therefore refer the specimen.
Canis lupus griseoalbusBaird
In 1823 Sabine (No. V, Zoological Appendix, p. 654,InNarrative of a journey to the shores of the Polar Sea ... xvi + 768, 30 pls., 4 maps, 1823, London, by John Franklin) applied the nameCanis Lupus-Griseusto the gray wolf in the vicinity of Cumberland House, Saskatchewan. On the following page (p. 655) he employed the nameCanis Lupus-Albusfor 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 nameCanis lupus griseusSabine as a synonym ofCanis lupus occidentalisSimpson. Anderson (Jour. Mamm., 24(3):386, August 17, 1943) revived Sabine's namegriseusand assigned toCanis lupus griseusan extensive geographic range in central Canada. Later, Goldman (Part II, Classification of wolves, p. 395 and 424,InThe Wolves of North America, American Wildlife Institute, May 29, 1944) by implication, again arrangedgriseusof Sabine as a synonym ofCanis lupus occidentalisand pointed out (op. cit.:395) that, in any event, the namegriseusis preoccupied by[Canis] GriseusBoddaert, 1784 [=Urocyon cinereoargenteus(Schreber), 1775]. Still later, Anderson (Bull. 102, Nat. Mus. Canada, p. 54, January 27, 1947) again recognized the subspecies formerly known asCanis lupus griseusSabine, and, because of Boddaert's prior usage of[Canis] griseus, renamed the subspeciesCanis 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 namesCanis (Lupus) griseusandCanis (Lupus) albusof Sabine ... asCanis occidentalisvar.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 occidentalisvar.griseo-albus, was clearly based on the primary names of Sabine (griseusandalbus), of De Kay (occidentalis), of Maxmillian (variabilis, a synonym ofCanis lupus nubilis) and of Townsend (gigas, a synonym ofCanis lupus fuscus). Nevertheless, the namegriseo-albuswas applied to, among others, the subspecies of wolf the type locality of which is at Cumberland House, Saskatchewan, and, by restriction, the nameCanis lupus griseoalbusBaird is available for the subspecies and, of course, antedatesCanis lupus knightiiof 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 afait accompli.Canis lupus albusSabine, 1823, is not available since it is preoccupied byC[anis]. Lupus albusKerr (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 griseoalbusBaird
1858.Canis occidentalis, var.griseo-albusBaird, Mammals, Repts. Explor. and Surv. for R. R. to Pacific Ocean, Washington, vol. 8, p. 104 (1857), July 14, 1858, based onCanis Lupus-GriseusSabine 1823 from the vicinity of Cumberland House, Saskatchewan.1823.Canis Lupus-GriseusSabine, No. V, Zool. App. p. 654,InNarrative of a journey to the shores of the Polar Sea ... by John Franklin (nec [Canis] GriseusBoddaert, Elench. Anim. p. 97, 1794, a synonym ofUrocyon cinereaorgenteus(Schreber), Säugethiere, p. 92, 1775).1943.Canis lupus griseus, Anderson, Jour. Mamm., 24(3):386, August 17.1947.Canis lupus knightiiAnderson, Bull. 102, Nat. Mus. Canada, p. 54, January 24. (A renaming ofCanis Lupus-GriseusSabine, 1823.)
1858.Canis occidentalis, var.griseo-albusBaird, Mammals, Repts. Explor. and Surv. for R. R. to Pacific Ocean, Washington, vol. 8, p. 104 (1857), July 14, 1858, based onCanis Lupus-GriseusSabine 1823 from the vicinity of Cumberland House, Saskatchewan.
1823.Canis Lupus-GriseusSabine, No. V, Zool. App. p. 654,InNarrative of a journey to the shores of the Polar Sea ... by John Franklin (nec [Canis] GriseusBoddaert, Elench. Anim. p. 97, 1794, a synonym ofUrocyon cinereaorgenteus(Schreber), Säugethiere, p. 92, 1775).
1943.Canis lupus griseus, Anderson, Jour. Mamm., 24(3):386, August 17.
1947.Canis lupus knightiiAnderson, Bull. 102, Nat. Mus. Canada, p. 54, January 24. (A renaming ofCanis Lupus-GriseusSabine, 1823.)
The nameCanis Lupus-AlbusSabine, 1823 (nec C[anis]. Lupus albusKerr, Animal Kingdom, p. 137, 1792) should, of course, be retained as a synonym ofCanis lupus mackenziiAnderson as arranged by Anderson (Bull. 102, Nat. Mus. Canada, p. 55, January 24, 1947).
When Anderson (op. cit.:54) recognized the subspeciesCanis 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 toC. 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, ofC. l. occidentalisandC. l. hudsonicus. The specimen fits the description ofC. l. griseoalbusand differs fromC. l. occidentalisin 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 fromC. l. hudsonicusin 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 toCanis lupus griseoalbusBaird.
Canis niger rufusAudubon and Bachman
Goldman (Part II, Classification of wolves, p. 486,InThe wolves of North America, American Wildlife Institute, May 29, 1944) referred two specimens of the red wolf from Reeds Spring, Missouri, to the subspeciesC. 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, toC. 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 toC. 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 betweenC. n. rufusandC. n. gregoryi. They resembleC. n. rufusin small size and cranial characters, but are more nearlyC. n. gregoryiin 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 toCanis niger rufus.
Transmitted July 15, 1952.