MAMMALS 275 



wild dogs and wolves fall into 2 groups or subgenera, one of which is 

 Canis L. and has for its characteristic representative the gray wolf, and 

 the other is Lyciscus Hamilton Smith, which is represented by the cayote. 

 They are very prohlic, wolves having sometimes as many as 12 young 

 at a birth and cayotes as many as 14. 



Key to the United States Species of Canis 



ai Size large; wolves; length mostly over 1,400 mm. 

 bi East of the Mississippi. 



Ci In the northeastern States C. lycaon. 



Co In the southern States C. floridanus. 



bo West of the Mississippi. 



Ci On the Great Plains and in Rocky Mountains; tail short. . .C. nubilus. 



02 In the Puget Sound region C. gigas. 



C3 In Texas C. frusiror. 



C. rufus. 

 a2 Size smaller; cayotes; length under 1,200 mm.; muzzle sharp. 



bi On the northern prairies . C latrans. 



bo On the Great Plains C. nebracensis. 



ba In the mountains and the Great Basin C. testes. 



hi In the southwest. 



ci In the lower Rio Grande Valley C. microdon. 



Co In Arizona C. mearnsi. 



C3 From eastern California to Utah C. estor. 



C4 In the San Joaquin Valley C. ochropus. 



C. lycaon Schreber (C. occidentalis Richardson). Gray wolf. 

 Color gray, mixed with blackish or tawny; length 1,465 mm.; tail 405 

 mm.; hind foot 225 mm.: eastern Canada and northeastern United 

 States; exterminated, except towards the north. 



C. floridanus Miller. Southern wolf. Similar to C. lycaon, but 

 much darker; color black above, buffy gray faintly clouded on the sides 

 and beneath; muzzle and legs yellowish: Florida. 



C. nubilus Ssiy. Gray wolf of the plains; lobo; timber wolf. Color 

 gray, varying to blackish on the back and tawny on the belly; length 

 1,365 mm.; tail 273 mm.; weight about 100 lbs.: the interior States and 

 central Canada; southward to Nebraska and California; exterminated in 

 well settled districts, but common in many places in the Great Plains 

 and Rocky Mountains. 



C Jrustror Woodhouse. American jackal. Color gray, clouded 

 with black; length 1,143 mm.; tail 355 mm.; hind foot 180 mm.: Texas 

 and Oklahoma. 



C gigas Townsend. Northwest timber wolf. Size large; tail very 

 short; color black above, reddish brown on the sides, cinereous below: 

 region of Puget Sound. 



