REVISION OF THE AMERICAN RED FOXES 67 1 



Characters. — Size large ; tail enormous, constricted at base, largest 

 on basal fourth and tapering thence to tip ; pelage coarse, wolf-like on 

 tail and posterior half of back ; hairs of neck and shoulders greatly 

 elongated, forming a conspicuous ruff ; those of posterior half of back 

 abruptly much shorter and conspicuously grizzled. 



Color. — Nose to between eyes pale dull fulvous, grizzled with 

 whitish ; top of head from between eyes to nape buffy whitish, griz- 

 zled with yellowish fulvous ; anterior half of back bright yellowish 

 fulvous, the color extending down over sides and belly nearly to median 

 line ; posterior half of back coarsely grizzled buffy- whitish and dull 

 fulvous, reddest along median line ; underparts yellowish-fulvous ex- 

 cept chin, throat, inguinal region, and a narrower strip on belly, which 

 parts are grayish-buffy ; ears black ; fore and hind legs and feet dull 

 pale fulvous, with an irregular black patch on dorsal surface of fore- 

 foot, and a much smaller one on hind foot ; tail grizzled grayish and 

 yellowish fulvous, the fulvous most marked on median line of upper 

 surface, the black-tipped hairs less abundant than in related species 

 but sufficiently plentiful on basal fourth of dorsal surface to form an 

 indistinct black patch or spot ; tip inconspicuously white or buffy 

 white. 



Sk7dl. — Large and massive with large, broad, and relatively short 

 rostrum, conspicuously swollen over roots of canines ; premolars large 

 and crowded. Closely related to V. kenaiensis from which it differs 

 as follows : rostrum shorter, much broader and more swollen over 

 canines ; nose more upturned ; frontals narrower ; frontal sulcus deeper ; 

 zygomata less spreading ; upper carnassial usually heavier with an- 

 terointernal cusp more strongly developed and set out at greater angle 

 from axis of tooth; ist upper and 2d lower molar smaller. (These 

 tooth characters are probably not constant.) 



Compared with regalis., with which it agrees in general size, the 

 rostrum and palate are broad and short [instead of long and slender], 

 zygomata less spreading ; upper carnassial thicker and heavier with 

 anterointernal cusp strongly developed and projecting at right angle 

 into palate ; lower carnassial more swollen (broader, but shorter an- 

 teroposteriorly) ; 2d lower molar smaller, narrower, and more rectang- 

 ular (less convex or bellied on inner side.) 



Measurements. — Type specimen [a dry skin] : total length 1260; 

 tail vertebrje [approximate] 450 ; tail to end of hairs 550 ; greatest 

 diameter of tail, hairs laid naturally, 160; greatest diameter of tail, 

 hairs spread, 250. 



Cranial measurements. — Skull no. 98 144, fi'om Uyak Bay, Kadiak 



