NORTH AMERICA AND THE WEST INDIES 191 



wolverenes were still to be found in 1911, but although in 

 former times generally distributed, they were then apparently 

 restricted "largely to the San Juan and La Plata Mountains, 

 the mountains of northern Gunnison County, and the ranges 

 surrounding North and Middle Parks" (Cary, 1911). A num- 

 ber of specific records are given by Cary, which prove that the 

 species was much commoner in the latter part of the last 

 century. To the southward there is some evidence that 

 wolverenes extended into the higher mountain forests of 

 northern New Mexico. Of this Coues (1877) was assured by 

 hunters there in 1864, but no definite records exist (Bailey, 

 1931), and it must have soon been extirpated from this southern 

 outpost of its range. Confirmatory evidence, however, is 

 given by Seton (1931), who was told by an Acoma Indian in 

 1930 of an animal known formerly to the people of that part 

 of New Mexico as the Ho-ho-an or Ko-ko-an, somewhat like a 

 small bear with a bushy tail, and the Indian then produced from 

 his medicine bag a small carving of the creature's head, an 

 excellent likeness of a wolverene's. He said it "was formerly 

 found in all these mountains but had disappeared. None of 

 the present generation had seen one." Baird mentions a 

 specimen from the basin of the Great Salt Lake in Utah 

 previous to 1857, but it has long been gone from this region. 



The status of wolverenes on the Pacific coast still requires 

 investigation as to numbers and racial relationships. Elliot 

 in 1905 distinguished specimens from Mount McKinley, 

 Alaska (type from Sushitna River), as Gulo hylaeus on the 

 basis of their darker instead of gray heads and larger audital 

 bullae as compared with specimens from eastern Canada. It 

 is perhaps a recognizable race. In 1918, Matschie named as a 

 distinct species on very slight basis, Gulo katschemakensis, from 

 the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, but it is doubtful if this is really 

 different. In the same paper he described Gulo niediecki from 

 a skull from Dease Lake, British Columbia, but here again the 

 validity of the race is questionable. Very likely, however, the 

 animal of the coastal ranges is a recognizable form, described 

 by Elliot as Gulo luteus, and is accorded subspecific rank by 

 Dr. Grinnell (see postea). 



Recent information gathered by Dr. Francis Harper indicates 

 that wolverenes are still taken in some numbers in northwestern 

 Canada and a few in northeastern Canada. In 1931-32, 536 



