150 University of California Publications in Zoology l V()I <- 10 



The chief inference to be drawn from the above table is the 

 same intermediate position of sierras in regard to size of skull 

 as is shown by the general body measurements. It is possible 

 that relatively long tooth-row. great size of molars, narrow 

 palate, and narrow rostrum are specific features of sierrae; but. 

 as intimated above, the material at hand is insufficient to warrant 

 any assertions in regard to cranial characters. 



Nomenclature and Geographic Considerations: Id an 

 important paper just published, dealing with the nomenclature 

 of the North American sheep. Allen (1912, pp. 20, 25) revives 

 the old name Ovis calif ornianus, of Douglas, for a hypothetical 

 race "formerly" inhabiting "the Cascade Mountains of southern 

 Washington and Oregon, and .Mount Shasta and the moun- 

 tainous country to the eastward in northern California." and 

 "now probably extinct." Allen establishes "Mount Adams. 

 Yakima County. Washington," as the type Locality of "Ovis 

 cervina californiana." He states (1912. p. 22) that "as it 

 | this form] is now probably extinct at the type locality and is 

 unrepresented by typical specimens in Museums, its real status in 

 relation to other forms can probably never be satisfactorily 

 determined." 



The existence of a distinct race, with the above range, for 

 which the name californiana is usable, is suggested by Allen thus 

 wholly "on geographical grounds." On the same grounds the 

 present writer would point out the probability of the former 

 existence of separate races in the Cascades, and in the Sierra 

 Nevada, especially southerly in the latter mountain system. It 

 does nol appear logical to assume the identity of the new form 

 here characterized with that of Washington. The employment 

 here of the name californiana would be dependent upon such 

 assumption. 



In the mind of the present writer, the geographical prob- 

 abilities are that the range of sierrae extended north to include 

 the Mount Shasta region. If there was a hiatus between a 

 Cascade race and a Sierran. both being Boreal in zonal occur- 

 rence, the line of demarcation was more probably north of Shasta 

 than south. This is in accord with the conclusions of C. H. 

 Merriam (1899, p. 83) that the Klamath Gap to the north has 



