1915.] 



MARMOTA MOjSTAX GEOUP. 



31 



Type locality. — '^Canada et acl f return Hudsonis "—here fixed at 

 Quebec, Quebec. 



Distribution. — Greater part of interior of Canada, from Great Slave 

 Lake and York Factory south to southern Alberta (Red Deer), cen- 

 tral Saskatchewan (Cumberland House) , northern Minnesota, north- 

 ern Wisconsin, northern Michigan, central Ontario, southern Quebec, 

 New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia; northern and eastern limits of 

 range in Quebec unknown. 



Characters. — Size small; sexes about same size; colors strongly red- 

 dish, above and below; skull small without pronounced sagittal crest. 



Color. — ^Underfur on upperparts blackish brown at base, succeeded 

 by pinkish cinnamon or light pinkish cinnamon; long hair-s blackish 

 brown sub terminally, tipped with white or pinkish buff; top of head 

 and face hair-brown, sometimes shading to clove brown; sides of 

 face light buff; feet and legs black, blackish brown, or fuscous, the 

 legs and thighs overlaid with burnt sienna; tail blackish brown, con- 

 siderably grizzled with cinnamon-buff or hght buff ; underparts deep 

 tawny or burnt sienna sometimes varied with buff and moderately 

 mixed with black. Melanistic specimens are rarely found, but one 

 from Aitkin, Minn., is glossy blackish brown all over. 



Slcull. — Smallest of any member of the group; shorter and rela- 

 tively broader than that of preUorum, with short, broad rostrum; 

 much smaller than that of ignava, with sagittal crest only slightly 

 developed; nasals narrowed posteriorly; bullae relatively large, 

 smoothly rounded, and considerably inflated. 



Measurements. — ^Adultmale: Total length, 510-515 (average 513); 

 tail vertebrae, 108-109 (108.5); hind foot, 74-78 (76) ;i average of 

 three adult males from Mackenzie and Alberta: 500; 124; 75. Adult 

 female:^ 508-560 (536); 131-140 (136); 69-76 (73). SMIl: Adult 

 male:=^ Condylo-basal length, 75-80.8 (78.1) ; palatal length, 43.7-48.2 

 (45.7) ; postpalatal length, 27.5-29.6 (28.7) ; length of nasals, 29.9-32 

 (31.3) ; zygomatic breadth, 53-56.6 (54.1); breadth across mastoids, 

 36.4-39.4 (38); least interorbital breadth, 18.4-22.7 (20.7); breadth 

 of rostrum, 15.1-18 (16.6); maxillary tooth row, 18.2-19.3 (18.8). 

 Adult female:^ Condylo-basal length, 77.4-80 (78.9); palatal length 

 45.6-47.2 (46.2); postpalatal length, 28.2-30.5 (29.3); length of 

 nasals, 30.5-34.5 (32.6) ; zygomatic breadth, 52.8-58.2 (54.8) ; breadth 

 across mastoids, 36.5-39.8 (37.8) ; least interorbital breadth, 19.8-22 

 (20.9) ; breadth of rostrum, 14.5-17.8 (16.3) ; maxillary tooth row, 

 18.1-19.2 (18.6). 



Eemar'ks. — The Canada woodchuck has the most extensive dis- 

 tribution of any of the American forms and over the greater part of 



1 Two specimens from Murray Bay, Quebec. 

 - Three specimens from Quebec and Ontario. 



3 Eight specimens from Mackenzie, Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and northern Wisconsin. 

 * Seven specimens from Mackenzie, Manitoba, Ontario, Xova Scotia, and Quebec. 



