1916] Taylor: Beavers of Western North America 417 



Nomenclature 



Three species of beavers, with altogether twelve subspecies, have 

 been described from North America. 



The American beaver was separated from the European by Kuhl 

 (1820, p. 64) under the name of Castor canadensis, its type locality 

 being Hudson Bay. 



The specific name americanus was applied to the American beaver 

 by F. Cuvier (1821, not seen) but this name is antedated by Kuhl's 

 canadensis. Although the account on which Kuhl's name is based 

 is fragmentary, it includes a description of the animal. 



Gray (1869, p. 293) separated the beaver of the "northwest coast 

 of America" as Castor canadensis leucodonta. This description was 

 on the basis of specimens collected by Dr. Robert Brown. It is very 

 probable that they were obtained on Vancouver Island (Osgood, 

 1907, p. 47). 



The beaver of northern Mexico and the southern Rocky Mountain 

 region was described by Mearns (1897, p. 502) under the name 

 Castor canadensis frondator, its type locality being San Pedro River, 

 Sonora, Mexico, near monument no. 98 of the Mexican boundary line. 



A year later two more races were described by Rhoads (1898, 

 pp. 420 and 422 respectively) : Castor canadensis carolinensis, type 

 locality Dan River, near Danbury, Stokes County, North Carolina ; 

 and Castor canadensis pacificus, type locality Lake Kichelos or 

 Kecheelus, Cascade Mountains, Kittitas County, "Washington. 



The beaver of Texas was shown to be distinct by Bailey (1905, 

 p. 122), and was described as Castor canadensis texensis, type locality 

 Cummings Creek, Colorado County, Texas. 



Expeditions from the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology of the 

 University of California found beavers on several of the islands of 

 southeastern Alaska, although Admiralty Island is the only one 

 which is so far represented by specimens. The race found on this 

 island was described by Heller (1909, p. 250) as Castor canadensis 

 phaeus, type locality Pleasant Bay, Admiralty Island, Alaska. 



The beaver inhabiting the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys 

 of California was recently characterized as a full species, Castor 

 subauratus (Taylor, 1912, p. 167), type locality Grayson, Stanislaus 

 County, San Joaquin River, California. 



The beaver of Newfoundland, like so many others of the mammals 

 inhabiting that island, is apparently restricted to it alone. It was 



