[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 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 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

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.