172 University of California Publications in Zoology ["Vol. 24 



Sjniaptomys borealis wrangeli Merriam. Wrangell Lemming Mouse 



Found at but one place on the river, at Great Glacier. Three 

 specimens obtained (nos. 30752-30754), all males, taken on August 10, 

 13, and 14, respectively. Just one, the largest and the only one that 

 is fully mature, shows the gray patches over the hip glands. All 

 three were trapped in alder thickets, in places frequented by Evotomys. 



There have been available for comparison three specimens of lem- 

 ming mice (in the E. P. Walker collection), from Wrangell, Alaska, 

 the type locality of Synaptomys wrangeK, ten from mainland points 

 in southeastern Alaska, ranging from Boca de Quadra to Port Snet- 

 tisham, and nine from the Prince William Sound region, Alaska. I 

 also received, as a loan from the United States Biological Survey, six 

 typical specimens of Synaptomys boreaUs dalli, three from points near 

 the base of the Alaska Peninsula, two from the Kuskokwim drainage, 

 and one from the Yukon. 



As far as I can see, the specimens from the coast of southeastern 

 Alaska, island and mainland, are all alike. They are all wrangeli. 

 Furthermore, the differences between wrangeli and dalli are slight, 

 and as these differences in the series here assembled are bridged by 

 individual variation and to some extent by geographic variation, I 

 consider the two forms as subspecies of one species, Synaptomys bore- 

 alis. (For the use of this name, see Preble, 1908, pp. 183-186. See 

 also Hollister, 1912, p. 19.) 



The skull of dalli, compared with wrangeli, is somewhat larger, and 

 rather more angular, and more heavily built. Otherwise, I can see no 

 differences in the two lots. Sapne of those from the Prince William 

 Sound region incline toward dalli in their larger size, as compared 

 with more southern specimens, indicating, perhaps, intergradation be- 

 tween tvrangeli and dalli at what is probably the northern limit of the 

 form wrangeli. Externally, four specimens of dalli are appreciably 

 more reddish than any in the wrangeli series. The two remaining 

 dalli are of the same coloration as the mode of wrangeli. 



Thus, instead of wrangeli being an insular species, confined to 

 Wrangell Island, my conception of it is as being a rather wide ranging 

 form, and a coastal subspecies, contrasted with dalli of the interior. 

 Its range is the coast of southeastern Alaska, from Prince William 

 Sound south at least to Boca de Quadra. It has been taken upon two 

 islands, Hinchinbrook Island, Prince William Sound, and Wrangell 

 Island, both but slightly separated from the mainland. 



