MAMMALS CANIDAE CANIS LATRAtfS. 115 



The specimen of this animal collected in the San Francisco mountains is about the bulk of 

 the pointer dog. The muzzle is slender and pointed ; the head narrow. The ears are very 

 large, measuring four inches above the notch ; they are well covered with hairs, except around 

 the meatus. The tail is unusually dense and bushy, much more so than in any coyote I have 

 seen. 



The general color of this animal is a rusty grey, with shadings of black on the back and 

 sides. The under parts are greyish white. 



A specimen collected by Dr. Woodhouse, on the Yampai river, has softer fur and less black 

 on the back than some others. 



With Dr. Woodhouse's original specimens before me, I cannot admit Canis frustror to the 

 rank of a distinct species, whether it be distinct or not from the true Canis latrans. It is, 

 indeed, of small size, not half that of the adult prairie wolf, but the skull is that of a very 

 young animal. Net a single one of the permanent teeth has been cut, the dentition being 

 entirely deciduous. (Incisors^, canines ^, molars |^ = 28.) Compared with the skull of 

 a young prairie wolf from the Upper Missouri, (No. 205,) there is no appreciable difference, 

 except that the latter is a trifle smaller, and has rather a narrower muzzle. The animal itself 

 is in rather better pelage, showing, in two mounted specimens, an abundance of long stiff hairs 

 on the body, rather a large proportion of black tips to the hairs of the back, and a considerable 

 amount of black on the tip and sides of the tail. The ears are larger than in Dr. Buckley's 

 specimen. If the adult animal never exceeded Dr. Woodhouse's specimens in size, occurring 

 at the same time with other adults much larger, there would be good reason for considering it 

 distinct. There is, however, absolutely no doubt, from comparison with the skin and skull of 

 young prairie wolf No. fWVj from the Upper Missouri, that when adult, the size of the specimens 

 would not be appreciably less than that of the average of prairie wolves, (Canis latrans.} 



I regret that no mature specimens of the prairie wolf from the upper Missouri have come 

 under my observation, as I have, in consequence, had no opportunity of comparing them with 

 the coyotes of California and Mexico. No appreciable difference can be detected in the descrip 

 tions of Maximilian. The description in Audubon and Bachman was taken from a Texas speci 

 men. The animal described by Richardson, from the plains of the Saskatchawan, appears to 

 be smaller, with shorter ears. The colors are more grey also. 



A very young prairie wolf, collected by Dr. Suckley, west of Fort Union, (205,) has very 

 few long hairs, the body being covered entirely by a soft woolly fur, rather finer than the under 

 fur of the adults. The general color is a pale yellowish grey, tinged with rufous on the top of 

 the head and on the muzzle. There is a slight sooty shade over the body, caused by black tips 

 to the hairs, grizzled with greyish. The ears are shorter than in specimens collected by Dr. 

 Woodhouse. 



After a careful examination of over twenty skulls of the prairie wolf of the Platte, with nearly 

 as many from California, New Mexico, and Texas, I must candidly confess my inability to detect 

 any very striking distinctive characteristics among them. By selecting a single specimen from 

 each series, it would be no difficult matter to establish specific differences between them, but in 

 a large number from the same locality the distinctions disappear. In the Platte skulls some 

 are much broader than others, with shorter muzzle ; there is also a great variation in the 

 diameter between the orbits. The sectorial teeth in skulls of the same length differ in length 

 sometimes by an eighth of an inch. The shape of the coronoid process varies exceedingly, as 

 does, to some extent, the width of muzzle. Perhaps in the skulls before me there is, in the 



