RACCOONS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA 85 



lotor that it is surprising it lias not been described until now. Superficially, it 

 resembles varius of northern and eastern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, but 

 its much more yellowish pelage which is strongly suffused with black, and its 

 massive skull and large molariform teeth clearly set it apart from that form. In 

 coat color this new race bears no close similarity to P. I. fuscipes of Texas, being 

 distinctive as outlined above. However, the two agree with respect to certain 

 cranial characters. In both the skull is massive, the frontal "hump" distinct, and 

 the postocular constriction evident, but the dentition of megalodous is so decidedly 

 heavier that skulls of the latter are separable froni fuscipes without much difficulty. 

 Three skins from Grand Terre Island are decidedly yellower than anything else 

 examined in the present connection. The dark middorsal area is restricted to a 

 narrow but heavily concentrated band of dark brown (no black) ; hence the yellow- 

 ish pelage of the sides and flanks is less suffused with dark hairs than in other 

 raccoon specimens. The pelage of these specimens lacks any vestige of gray or 

 black, the hairs being either yellowish or brown. Although there is a definite 

 tendency among marsh dwelling raccoons to assume a decided xanthochronistic 

 appearance in late spring and summer, this condition is clearly associated with 

 wear, stain, and fading. These latter factors are not at all evident in the Grand 

 Terre Island specimens, which are in fresh fall pelage. Whether this island popu- 

 lation merits taxonomic recognition is dependent upon how constant the above 

 noted characters appear in additional material, which is not obtainable at present. 



Specimens examined. — Total number, 20 skins and 41 skulls, as 

 follows: 



Louisiana: Cameron Parish: Rockefeller Refuge, 1 skin without skull; near 

 Sabine Wildlife Refuge, 19 skulls. Calcasieu Parish: Lake Charles, 1 skin 

 with skull. Terrebonne Parish: Timbalier Island, 1 skin with skull. St. Ber- 

 nard Parish: Toca Village, 1 skin with skull; Belair, 9 skins and 10 skviUs. 

 Plaquemines Parish: Delta [National Wildlife] Refuge below Pilottown, 3 

 skins and 4 skulls. Jefferson Parish: Grand Terre Island, 3 skins with skulls 

 and one miscellaneous skull. Iberia Parish: Marsh Island, skin with skull 

 (type). 



PROCYON LOTOR MARITIMUS Dozier 



Coastal Marsh Raccoon 



Procyon lotor marititnus Dozier, Jour. Mammal. 29 (3): 286, August 31, 1948. 



Type locality. — Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Dorchester 

 Comity, Maryland. 



Type.—No. 275,290, female adult, skin and skull, U. S. Natl. Mus. 

 (Biological Surveys collection) ; collected by Herbert L. Dozier, 

 December 3, 1946. 



In describing P. I. maritimus Dozier (1948) wrote: 



Distribution. — Known only from marsh areas on the Delmarva Peninsula 

 (Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia). 



General characters. — A small to medium, pale subspecies. Readily distinguished 

 from typical Procyon I. lotor by its paler coloration; longer but more sparse guard 

 hairs; much smaller size; more slender legs and general build; narrower and more 

 pointed head; decidedly shorter, more pointed, and less prominently banded tail; 

 and relatively much shorter caudal vertebrae. In general color and length of the 

 subapical band of the guard hair it is perhaps nearest to Procyon I. mexicanus 

 of Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico, but is only about half the size of the latter 

 and its tail is decidedly shorter and less distinctly marked. 



