No. 8 NEW RACCOONS FROM FLORIDA NELSON 3 



the more smoothly rounded, smaller skulls of the females give the 

 same evidence. Measurements, weights, and skulls of the series 

 collected by Dr. E. A. Mearns in Polk County, the type region of 

 P. I. elucus, show similar size differences between the sexes of that 

 form. 



The study of my series of specimens and comparisons with a large 

 number of specimens of Procyon lotor elucus from the Florida main- 

 land and of representatives of P. maynardi and P. minor from the 

 Bahamas makes it appear that a natural laboratory of evolution is 

 obviously at work on the Florida Keys with the generally distributed 

 and abundant raccoons as, at least, one of the principal subjects. 



It is a pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr. Thomas 

 Barbour and to Mr. H. E. Anthony for the use of material under 

 their charge in the Museum of Comparative Zoology and the American 

 Museum of Natural History, respectively. 



THE RACCOON OF THE TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS 



More than two years ago a friend told me that a raccoon smaller 

 than that of the mainland was reported to exist on the chain of keys 

 bordering the southwest coast of Florida, known as the " Ten 

 Thousand Islands." This suggestive information was kept in mind 

 and the last of February, 1930, I arrived at Fort Myers, on my way 

 to investigate the rumor. Being delayed there for a day I located a 

 fur buyer and in reply to my inquiries he promptly confirmed the 

 truth of the statement which had caused my quest. He said that a 

 very small, rather pale colored, raccoon is well known to the trappers 

 and fur buyers of this region, where it occupies the islands, or " keys " 

 along the coast. He added that owing to its small size and the inferior 

 quality of its fur " key coon " skins bring only about one-half to two- 

 thirds the price paid for the larger, better furred skins from the 

 mainland. The trader then produced about 30 " key coon " skins from 

 Marco Island, which he had recently purchased, and I was delighted 

 to note their distinctive peculiarities. 



The next morning I proceeded by rail to Marco Island, one of the 

 larger of the Ten Thousand Islands, near the northern end of the 

 group. It is several miles in both length and breadth and is bordered 

 by a belt of mangrove swamp where the raccoons live. The interior 

 is sandy, several feet above high tide mark, and covered with a thin 

 forest of scrubby, slender pines with scattered undergrowth. 



Soon after my arrival I found resident trappers who agreed that 

 " key coons " were common on the island, but that those found on 

 the keys near Chokoloskee Bay farther south were the smallest of all. 



