Vol. XXIX, pp. 133-154 September 6, 1916 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



NINETEEN APPARENTLY NEW GRIZZLY AND BROWN 

 BEARS FROM WESTERN AMERICA. 



BY C. HART MERRIAM. 



During the two years that have elapsed since the publication 

 of my last descriptions of big bears,* a special effort has been 

 made to obtain additional material, particularly from British 

 Columbia, Yukon Territory, and Alaska. This effort has been 

 more successful than expected, resulting in the acquisition of 

 nearly 150 skulls. A critical study of these in connection with 

 those previously examined, shows the existence of a number of 

 additional forms and seems to prove conclusively that the Big 

 Bears, like the smaller mammals, split up into an unexpectedly 

 large number of species and subspecies. 



The most surprising result is the discovery that Admiralty 

 Island in southeastern Alaska appears to be inhabited by no less 

 than five distinct species of bears, each of which is obviously 

 related to and representative of an adjacent mainland species. 

 The recognition of this very remarkable state of affairs makes it 

 possible to clear up what before had seemed a most anomalous 

 condition — namely, the extraordinary diversity or variability in 

 the skulls and teeth of the island bears. It was not until the 

 material essential for the determination of the mainland forms 

 had been collected, that it was possible to properly recognize 

 the island forms. 



It is interesting to observe that in the case of the Admiralty 

 Island Grizzly (insularis) the closest relationship appears to be 

 with the geographically more remote Chichagof Island species 

 (eltonclarki) rather than with the mainland orgilos. The infer- 



• Descriptions of Thirty Apparently new Grizzly and Brown Bears from North 

 America, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, XXVII, 173-196, August 13, 1914. 



29— Peoc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Vol. XXIX, 1916. (133) 



