NO. 1990. MAMMALS FROM THE ALTAI MO UNTAIN8—R0LLISTER. 511 



lorealis, common in the same forest, by its large size, dark color, and 

 large hind foot. In general size it approximates Sorex araneus tetra- 

 gonurus, but seems not to be closely related to any known form. 



MYOTIS PETAX Hollister. 



1912. Myotis petax Hollister, Smiths. Misc. Coll., vol. 60, No. 14, p. 6, No- 

 vember 29. 



No bats were seen in the desert mountains along the Mongolian 

 frontier. The single specimen collected on the trip, the type of 

 this new species, flew into the window of our room in the post station 

 at Kosh-Agatch on the evening of July 30. Bats seem to be rare 

 in the Altai region and only two or three were seen during the trips 

 on the upper Obi and on the long drive from Biisk to the southward. 

 Two bats recorded by Kastschenko^ from Cherga, as Vespertilio 

 dauhentonii, are doubtless of this species. 



CANIS ALTAICUS (Noack). 



1910. Lupus altaicus Noack, Zool. Anz., vol. 35, p. 465. 



There is reason to believe that wolves are fairly plentiful in the 

 Altai; but, strange to say, only one was seen alive by members of our 

 party. The perfect skull of a wolf, found dead near our Tchegan- 

 Burgazi Pass camp, was preserved. Compared with skulls of Canis 

 lupus from Sweden, this specimen has considerably smaller teeth, a 

 longer, more slender rostrum, and higher, rounded audital bullae. 

 The differences seem great enough to warrant the separation of the 

 form. Without specimens of the earlier named varieties from Tibet 

 and China for comparison, I use the name altaicus of Noack as un- 

 questionably referring to this animal. We saw a number of woK 

 skiQs, including some of small pups, in the trading post at Kosh- 

 Agatch. 



That the wolves destroy many wild sheep, especially during the 

 winter season, is hardly to be doubted. The great numbers of sheep 

 skulls and skeletons found in the mountains show that the game 

 suffers considerably from some cause. Referring to conditions on the 

 Mongolian side of the range, Lyman writes in his journal: 



The bottom of the valley is a perfect bone yard. On an average there must be a 

 sheep head for every 200 yards over the 10-mile range of which I am writing. My 

 hunter found a large ram freshly killed by a wolf. Wolves may be the destructive 

 agency. I saw but one in the valley, at a considerable distance. Among the great 

 number of sheep heads in the valley bottom I saw none of very large size. 



Demidoff,^in 1897, while hunting in what seems to be the exact valley 

 of which Lyman writes, had some of his ponies attacked one night by 

 wolves. 



The woK skull from Tchegan-Burgazi Pass is fully adult, with basal 

 suture closed, and is probably a male. It measures: Condylobasal 



' Pes. AjiTaficKoa sooji. Skcd. 1898. [Results Altai Zool. Exped. 1898], Vertebrates, 

 p. 12, Tomsk, 1S09. 



3 After Wild Sheep in the Altai and Mongolia, 1900, p. 143. 



