108 



U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS ZOOLOGY GENERAL REPORT. 



Measurement and comparison of tJie skulls of the large wolves of America. 



The only specimen in the collection equally old with the oldest of those from the Platte is 

 No. 1804, from Essex county, New York. This agrees very closely with No. 1311 from the 

 Platte, and is only a little narrower, with rather more slender muzzle. The temporal crest is 

 yery strongly marked. 



A skull from Fort Ripley, (1194,) Minnesota, equally adult with any, has a narrower fore 

 head ; it is of the same proportional width between the zygomata, if the distance from incisors 

 to condyles be taken as the standard, but narrower in proportion to the total length. It may as 

 well be stated here that there is a considerable disproportion between the excess of the total 

 length of the skull over the distance to the condyles, even in specimens otherwise similar. 



One specimen of gray wolf from the Platte (885) is much narrower, and has a longer muzzle 

 than any other in the collection. Its width is but 0.48 of the total length, or 0.52 of the 



