38 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 5 1 



open to question. This observation is particularly applicable to those 

 so long regarded as being identical with living species. The writer 

 believes that when more perfect material is available it will be found, 

 probably in all instances, to be quite distinct from the living forms. 

 That this is in some instances the case is shown by the discovery 

 this past summer of a skull of Ovibos sufficiently complete to show 

 characters of enough importance to warrant its separation from the 

 living form O. moschatus, to which nearly all musk-ox material 

 found in this region previously had been referred. 



More persistent collecting, aided by improved methods, will un- 

 doubted]}- increase the faunal list and widen the geographical dis- 

 tribution of the known forms. 



Now that Mastodon and Ovis remains have been found in Cana- 

 dian territory and at a comparatively short distance from the inter- 

 national boundary, there appears no logical reason why both of these 

 animals should not have lived in Alaska at one time. 



While in some cases we are unable to adequately define many oi 

 the species, still a very good idea of the fauna as a whole is obtained. 

 Its close relationships in many instances with living animals fur- 

 nishes an interesting link in the development of mammalian life of 

 this continent. 



The following list, based upon material sufficiently* complete for 

 fairly accurate determinations, represents the Pleistocene fauna of 

 Alaska as \vc know it today : 



Elephas primigeniits Ri xmexp.ach. 



lupins, sp. undet. 



. lice, sp. undet. 



Rangifrr, sp. undet. 



Ovibos, sp. nov. 



Symbos tyrrelli Osgood. 



Bison crassicornis Richardson. 



Bison occid<cntahs Lucas. 



Bison alleni Marsh. 



Vrsus. sp. undet. 



Castor, sp. undet. 



