PLEISTOCENE VERTEBRATES FROIM CUMBERLAND CAVE 



37 



In size the fossil form is close to M. vison mink. A comparison 

 with this subspecies shows the muzzle of the fossil skulls to be rela- 

 tively broad posteriorly with a slightly elongate face. Viewed from 

 above the lateral lines of the postorbital constricted portion of the 



Figure n.—Musteta cf. vison Schreber: Anterior portion of skull and mandible (U.S.N.M. no. 11880), 

 anterior and lateral views. Natural size. Cumberland Cave Pleistocene, Maryland. 



skull (fig. 166) converge posteriorly, perhaps more so than in the 

 Alaskan form, M. vison ingens. The upper dentition is essentially 

 like that in M. vison mink, although the upper carnassial of U.S.N.M. 

 no. 8156 (male) (fig. 16c), is somewhat broader posteriorly than in the 

 living mink. The lower jaw (fig. 16d and e) is less robust than in 



FlGTJBE 18.—Mustela cf. vison Schreber: Right ramus of female mandible (U.S.N.M. no. 8212), lateral and 

 occlusal views. XIJ^. Cumberland Cave Pleistocene, Maryland. 



M. vison mink, but the lower teeth, with the exception of M^ are not 

 different. The heel and middle portion of the lower carnassial are 

 narrower in the fossil jaws, and the hypoconid appears to be more 

 medially placed. The relative breadth of this tooth does not vary 

 greatly within subspecies, but between such forms as M. v. vison and 

 M. V. ingens the proportions differ appreciably. Incidentally, the 

 jimior author does not follow the procedure adopted by Dr. E. R. 

 Hall (1936, pp. 114-115) in referring the fossil material to the living 

 subspecies, M. vison mink, occupying the Maryland region today. 



