250 



MEMOIRS OP THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 



A study of between forty and fifty skulls of C. dims shows no other 

 specimen exhibiting the characters seen here, though there are available well- 

 preserved specimens representing all stages of development, from forms with 

 milk dentition to very aged individuals with teeth nearly worn away. In the 

 collection of specimens unquestionably referred to C. dims there is much 

 variation in many of the characters, particularly in size, and there is reason 

 to believe that among the adults a number of the lighter skulls with weaker 

 muscle attachments represent females. It is. to say the least, highly improbable 

 that skull no. 11257 represents the only female in this collection. That the 

 characters of youth added to those of sex are competent to extend the range 

 of form in C. dims so far as to reach the assemblage of characters seen in 

 specimen no. 11257 seems also improbable. This skull is that of a young adult 

 much beyond the stage of development of many C. dims specimens in which 

 the typical characters of the species are strongly expressed. Moreover, the 

 variation in form of the nasals and nasal processes of the frontals is just 

 opposite to that which would be expected in youthful animals. In all young 

 specimens the nasal processes of the frontals are exceptionally short, while in 



no. 11257 they are larger than in any other indi- 

 viduals, including those of advanced age. 



The Miller wolf was an animal about as large 

 as the modern timber wolf, but with a relatively 

 shorter and heavier head. It is to be presumed that 

 the living animal differed very noticeably from the 

 dire wolf in size and in general contour of the body. 

 Of the Miller wolf as yet we know with certainty 

 only the skull. The species was evidently a rela- 

 tively rare form at Rancho La Brea, but may have been much more common 

 in other regions at the time this deposit was forming. 



For measurements of Canis milleri see table of comparative measurements 

 of skull, p. 227, and dentition, p. 232. 



Fig. 31. Canis milleri Merriam, J. C. 

 Superior carnassial and superior 

 molars, occlusal view, no. 11257, 

 natural size. Rancho La Brea 

 Beds. 



