92 
ORIGIN OF LIFE IN AMERICA 
European zoologists, and that many of their so-called species 
are nothing more than varieties or races. In many cases this 
criticism is not justified, but even if we regarded the forty- 
five species of mammals peculiar to Alaska merely as varieties, 
the fauna still retains a remarkably distinctive character which 
can only have arisen through long-continued isolation. I 
herewith give a list of the species of mammals confined to 
Alaska. In doing so it must be understood that I am not com¬ 
mitting myself to any opinion as to their specific distinct¬ 
ness. 
Alces gigas. 
Evotomys wrangeli. 
Rangifer montan us. 
Lemmus minusculus. 
Oreamnos kennedyi. 
„ nigripes. 
Sciuropterus yukonensis. 
Fiber spatulatus. 
Citellus osgoodi. 
Lepus othus. 
„ nebulicola. 
„ poadromus. 
„ beringensis. 
Synaptomys wrangeli. 
,, barrowensis. 
,, dal 1 i. 
,, stonii. 
Vulpes kenaiensis. 
Microtus operarius. 
,, pribilofensis. 
„ unalascensis. 
,, beringensis. 
,, kadiacensis. 
Ursus middendorffi. 
„ yakutatensis. 
,, kidderi. 
,, sitkensis. 
„ dalli. 
,, innuitus. 
,, eulophus. 
,, abbreviates. 
„ kenaiensis. 
Ochotoua collaris. 
,, emmonsi. 
Tamias caniceps. 
Mustela kenaiensis. 
Peromyscus sitkensis. 
,, arcticus. 
Teonoma saxamans. 
Sorex tundrensis. 
Evotomys dawsoni. 
,, glacialis. 
,, orca. 
,, pribilofensis. 
The late Professor Asa Gray was the first to draw attention 
to the relationship of the flora of America and that of Asia. 
Tie was struck particularly with the remarkable resemblance 
of some of the plants found in the eastern United States to 
those inhabiting Japan. This particular feature, however, 
will be discussed in one of the subsequent chapters. It was 
not till much more recently that botanists became acquainted 
with the intimate floristic relationship between Alaska and 
