4 Myron Harmon Swenk 



densis, being about or nearly as in L. c. lataxina. The upper 

 parts are nearly vankyke brown, at least anteriorly, instead of 

 wholly dark seal brown, while the lower parts are Front's brown 

 rather than vankyde brown and the lower head and neck are 

 much paler, almost white. It is paler than L. c. vaga, also, espe- 

 cially beneath, agreeing more nearly with the coloration of L. c. 

 sonar a. 



L. c. interior is one of the larger forms of land otter in general 

 size, being equaled only by the Arizona subspecies, L. c. sonora, 

 and the subspecies of Florida and the Gulf Coast, L. c. vaga. 

 All three of these forms exceed 1,200 mm. in total length in adult 

 males, a size distinctly larger than the average canadensis, la- 

 taxina, pacifica and hrevipilosus, and much larger than degener 

 (cf., Rhoads; p. 438). The hind foot is proportionately short, 

 being no longer, or actually shorter, than in the relatively dis- 

 tinctly smaller canadensis. The inferior webs of the feet are 

 densely haired, as in canadensis and sonora, not thinly haired or 

 nearly naked as in lataxina, vaga and the Facific coast forms. 



Skull. — Measurements of the type in millimeters : Condyle — 

 basal length, 112; basilar length of Hensel, 103 ; length from pos- 

 terior apex of occiput to anterior end of premaxilla, 109; least 

 width of rostrum, 27 ; zygomatic width, 74.5 ; mastoid width, 66.5 ; 

 interorbital constriction, 24; expanse of postorbital processes, 

 35.75; postorbital constriction, 21.5; length of postorbital frontal 

 neck, 14; postpalatal constriction, 13.5; height of brain case at 

 bullae, 40. 



The skull of the type of L. c. interior corresponds very closely 

 in size and proportions with the average of New England speci- 

 mens of L. c. canarfgw.?w/- agreeing almost exactly with the meas- 

 urements of an old adult J* skull from Bucksport, Maine, re- 

 corded by Rhoads (No. 4238, Coll. E. A. and O. Bangs), in spite 

 of the larger general size of interior, a relation not unlike that 

 between L. c. hrevipilosus and L. c. pacifica. As Rhoads states 

 for L. c. sonora, the skull is small for the great relative length 

 of the body. Among the other eastern subspecies, the skull of 



12 Cf., Allen, Bull. U. S. Geol. and Geog. Surv. Terr., ii, p. 331, and 

 Mearns, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., iii, p. 253. 



