MAMMALIA. 69 
Var. D. Lupus nusitus. The Dusky Wolf. 
> 
Canis nubilus, Say. Long’s Exped., vol. i. p. 333. 
Dusky Wolf. GopMan’s Nat. Hist., vol. i. p. 265. 
PuarTE II. 
The Dusky Wolf differs little from the pure black variety which follows. It was 
considered by Mr. Say to be a distinct species, on account of its colour, a different 
physiognomy from that of the Common Red Wolf, its more robust form, and its 
shorter ears ; but, with the exception of colour, these characters are common to all 
the varieties of the northern American Wolf, and are in fact some of the peculiari- 
ties that distinguish them from Pyrenean wolves. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Mr. Say’s specimen had “a dusky colour; the hair cinereous at the base, then brownish- 
black, then gray, then black; the gray of the hairs combining with the black tips to produce 
a mottled appearance; the gray predominating on the sides. Ears short, deep brownish- 
black, with a patch of gray hair within. The under parts dusky ferruginous, grayish with 
long hairs between the thighs, and with a large white spot on the breast; the ferruginous 
colour very much narrowed on the neck, but dilated on the lower part of the cheeks ; 
legs brownish-black, with a slight admixture of gray hairs, excepting on the anterior edge of 
the hind thighs, and the lower edgings of the toes, where the gray predominated ; the tail was 
short, fusiform, a little tinged with ferruginous, black above, near the base, and at the tip; 
the top of the trunk hardly attaining to the os calcis ; the longer hairs of the back, par- 
ticularly over the shoulders, resembled a short, sparse mane.” 
DIMENSIONS. 
Feet. Inches. Feet. Inches. 
Length of head and body . Ge .4 33 Length from anterior canthus of the eye to 
7 the trunk of the tail . 3 sl 1 the middle of the tip of the nose. a @ 54 
5 ear from anterior angle to the tip 0 38 Distance between the anterior angles of the 
>, from the anterior angle of the ear ears, rather more than : . . 0 3 
to the posterior canthus of the eye pada!) 43 | 
The Dusky Wolf, figured in this work, was killed at Fort Resolution on Great 
Slave Lake, in latitude 61°, and is now preserved in the Museum of the Zoological 
Society. 
