246 The Mammals of Colorado 
Type locality. — Fort Gibson, at the junction of the Neosho River 
with the Arkansas, Indian Territory. 
Canis mearnsi (for Dr. E. A. Mearns). Mearns's 
Coyote. 
Canis mearnsi Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., xi., p. 30 (1897). 
Type locality. — Quitobaquita, Pima County, Arizona. 
Canis estor (Lat., eater, a glutton). Desert Coyote 
Canis estor Merriam, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., xi., p. 31 (1897). 
Type locality. — Noland's Ranch, San Juan River, San Juan 
County, Arizona.' 
Because of the difficulty of separating, with the material 
at hand, the different forms of Coyotes supposed to occur 
in Colorado, and of preparing descriptions of them, as well 
as defining their ranges, it has been deemed best to list as 
above all those which are known to or are supposed to inhabit 
our State. The following description will serve in a general 
way for all. 
Measurements. — Total length, 48.0 ; tail vert., 14.5 ; hind foot, 8.0 : 
ear, 5.5. These from a male taken at Crested Butte. Its weight 
was 25 pounds. 
Description. — Coyotes are so well known that it hardly seems 
worth while to write a description of the animal, especially as they 
are so variable in color that it is impossible to make a description 
which will serve for every individual. 
In a general way they may be said to be grizzled above, with a 
more or less distinct black dorsal stripe posteriorly, and much of the 
hair of the rest of the upper parts is black-tipped. The color of the 
upper parts, aside from the black, varies from grayish to tawny or 
fulvous, depending on individuals, locality, and season ; the muzzle 
and back of ear is some shade of fulvous or buff ; the under parts 
are whitish; the tail is more or less like the back. 
It is principally on the cranial characters that the differences 
between the various forms of coyotes are based, and very large 
series of skulls from every part of the State must be collected, 
studied, and compared before any definite conclusions can be 
arrived at. 
Distribution. — Coyotes are or were found over much of the 
western country from the Mississippi River westward to the Pacific 
