VOL. X, PP. 65-83, PLS. IV-VI APRIL 13, 1896 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



PRELIMINARY SYNOPSIS OF THE AMERICAN BEARS. 

 BY DR. C. HART MERRIAM. 



Heretofore it has been customary to class the North American 

 bears in three groups Blacks, Grizzlies, and the Polar bear. The 

 study of a series of more than 200 skulls, including about 35 

 skulls of the huge bears of the Alaska coast region, shows this 

 classification to be inadequate and adds four strongly marked 

 species to our fauna. The new species are : (1) the gigantic 

 fish-eating bear of Kadiak Island and the Alaska Peninsula, 

 Ursas middendorffi nob. ; (2) the large brown bear of Yakutat 

 Bay and the coastal slope of the St. Elias Alps, Ursus dalli nob. ; 

 (3) the large brown bear of Sitka and the neighboring islands 

 (and perhaps the adjacent mainland also), Ursus sitkensis nob. ; 

 and (4) the Florida Black bear, Ursus floridanus nob. 



In view of the remarkable characters presented by these new 

 forms it becomes necessary to rearrange our bears. They may 

 be classed in five well marked superspecific groups or types, as 

 follows : 



1. The Polar bear type, genus Thalarctos Gray. 



2. The Black bear type, subgenus Euarctos Gray. 



3. The Grizzly bear type, Ursus horribilis and its allies, sub- 



genus Danis Gray. 



4. The Sitka bear type, Ursus sitkensis nob. and U. dalli nob. 



5. The Kadiak or Alaska Peninsula bear, Ursus middendorffi nob. 

 The five groups are unequally related : the Polar bear belongs 



to an independent genus; the Black bears are more different 

 from the others, taken collectively, than the latter are from one 



11 BIOL. Soc. WASH., Vox,. X, 1896 (65) 



