22 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 60, FISH AND VViLDLIFE SERVICE 



oimcos. Wliitnoy beliovod. howovor, that tho avera<2:e would bo 

 about ]'A ])ounds as the woiidils inchidod those of a ^ood many animals 

 taken in tiic fall ihat had hccti hoi-n in the spi-ino- of the same year 

 and had not been i\\)\o to attain a wei^iht of much more than 10 

 pounds. Eifihteen raccoons rejjarded by Whitney as of uniformly 

 greater weight were taken by him in the fall near Brunswick, Maine. 

 Eight of these weighed more than 23 pounds each, the largest, 27 

 pounds, including, a sack estimated to weight three-fourths of a 

 pound. 



A large, fat, adult male raccoon (Procyon lotor hirtus) collected by 

 Vernon Bailey (1923, p. 124) at Elk River, Minn., November 5, 

 1886, was recorded by him as weighing 30K pounds. Another male 

 of the same subspecies taken at Fargo, N. Dak., by O. J. Murie, 

 November 9, 1919, weighed 24 pounds. Average animals from the 

 same localities would undoubtedly weigh much less. 



Weights of sp(M'imens of Procyon lotor elucus, which is active through- 

 out the year and does not become so fat as the more northern sub- 

 species, were obtained in winter by E. A. Mearns on Saw Grass 

 Island, Catfish Creek, Polk County, Fla. Five adult males from the 

 island ranged from 10 to 12 pounds in weight, the average being 11 

 pounds. The weight of three adult females from the same locality 

 ranged from 7.7 to 10 pounds, the average being 9 pounds. Weights 

 of the diminutive raccoon Procyon lotor auspicatu)^, of Key Vaca, 

 one of the Florida keys, were obtained late in winter by E. W. Nelson. 

 Five adult males were found by him to range in weight from 4 to 6 

 pounds, with an average of 5.3 pounds. Two adult females from the 

 same locality weighed 4 and 5 poimds, respectively. 



Individual variation in cranial and dental development is extensive 

 in scope and may render dithcult the detei-mination of some speci- 

 mens, especially if from iniknown localities. The variations are 

 noticeable especially in the form of the brain case and frontal profile, 

 relative prominence of postorbital processes, size of auditory bullae, 

 and size of large molariform teeth. Dental abnormalities are pre- 

 sented in a few cases. In two individuals, one of Procyon lotor 

 litoreus from Saint Simon Island, Ga., and the other of Procyon 

 gloveralleni of Barbados, Lesser Antilles, the first premolars in both 

 jaws are absent. Supernumerary teeth sometimes suggest early 

 division of the dental matrix. In a skull of Procyon lotor hernandezii 

 from Colima two canines are present on one side in the upper jaw, one 

 somewhat smaller being post(>rior to the normal canine in the space 

 usually occupied by the first premolar which is absent. On the side 

 opposite the double canines the first premolar is also absent, there 

 being a hiatus ])etween the canine and second premolar. The 

 mandible is normal. 



