Merriam — A New Bear from Montague Island, Alaska. 129 



are broad and hm<x (in tlie type specimen reaeliin«r plane of pontorhital 

 processes ) . 



Dental ('haraclirs. — Teeth in f^eneral of the ijrizzly type. Last (Ith) 

 lower itreniiilar normally with luirizontal iieel, slightly ui)tnrned at pos- 

 terior end, and shallow median snlcns reaciiin.i,' from cnsp to end of iieel, 

 its detininir ridges ending in slightly developed i)osterior cnsplets. [In 

 kenaiciisis the last lower premolar is more conical, the heel sloping, the 

 sulcus incomiilete, with oidy a single posterior cusplet— on inner side 

 of main cusp posteriorly.] First upper molar peculiar, having hoth ends 

 oblifjachi Inuicatc and parallel, sloping strongly from outer angles hack- 

 ward and inward; inner row of cusps pushed I)ack so that each falls 

 behind |)lane of corresiifinding cusp on outer .side; the tooth as a whole 

 more rectangular, its inner corners sqnarer (less rounded), and inner side 

 more llattened and nmch less convex than \n kniairiii<ls. 



In the females tiie last lower molar is conspicuously smaller than in 

 kenaiensh, and the last upjier molar is smaller, narrower, more wedge- 

 shape, and more pointed ])osteriorly. In one of the males it is similar. 

 In the three other males the last upper molar is larger and less acute 

 posteriorly than in tlie females, and the :'.d cnsp on tiie inner side is better 

 develoi)ed. 



Skull Mcasarciiiciitft. — Following are measurements of two adult males — 

 the type sjxH'imen collected by Sheldon, and a slightly older male collected 

 by ]Miss Annie M. Alexander ( Xo. '.(70, ^luseum of Vertebrate Zool., 

 Univ. Calif. ). In each case the measurements of the tyi>e come first, 

 followed in parenthesis by those of the Alexander skull. Basilar length, 

 ;')(;0 C;.").!); /.ygomatii- breadth, 1'70 (27l*); occipito-sphenoid length, 110 

 (104); postpalatal length, Ki:'. (K'-")); least interorbital breadth, 102 (!)'.)); 

 distance from foramen magnum to plane of front of last upper molar, 242 

 (2:)0); length of upper molariform series, 72 (75); of upper molars, 57 

 ((>1); of lower molars, 71 (72). 



Ilentarkx. — The skull of Urfias shrldoni is large and massive, and 

 contrasted with those of the big bears of other parts of Alaska igtjas, 

 in'nhlendorffi, dalli) is short and remarkably broad. The breadth is most 

 consi>icuous across the squamosals ami frontals. iM'en the nursing cub 

 shot by Sheldon has the skull strikingly broader throughout than any 

 other cub in the collection. [I have not seen a cub of kenalensis.] Skulls 

 of fenuiles are flattened like those of kenainiAis. Skulls of nuiles are high 

 and rounded, and tho.se approaching maturity — say in the 4th and 5th 

 years, and doubtless for several years later — have the I)raincase and 

 frontals so elevated and swollen that were it not for the snout the skulls 

 would appear almost globular. 



Another curious feature is that as the skulls lie in a row on the table, 

 those of slieldoiii have the noa^ conspicuously tilted up. In females the 

 actual diflference in height of tips of nasals (above the table) is S or 10 

 nun. ; in the males, M5-45 nun. This appears to be due to two causes — the 

 more exserted condyle of sheldoni, which throws the jaws a little further 

 forward, and the more bellied basal part of the ranms, which tilts the 

 front part of the skull upward. 



