112 U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS-ZOOLOGY-GENERAL REPORT. 
three and a half inches ; the muzzle is naked and black. The ears are of moderate size, scarcely 
so large as those of the prairie wolf, measuring three inches along the anterior edge. They are 
erect, pointed above, well covered with hair, except around the naked meatus. The feet are 
rather shorter in proportion than in the prairie wolf; as in all the dog family there are four toes 
each, with blunt stout claws on each foot, and on the fore foot a rudimentary thumb in addition, 
with a sharp claw attached. The naked pads under the feet are of considerable extent. 
The tail is short, not more than half the length of body and neck, exclusive of head. It is 
quite full and tufted. 
The hairs on the body, generally, are of two kinds, a rather soft under fur, with long hairs 
interspersed. The same condition prevails in the tail where, however, the long hairs are 
slightly crimped or curled. 
The general aspect of this animal is of a dusky plumbeous, with cloudings of black and shades 
of grayish on the sides of neck, shoulders, and back. The ears, head, and legs are almost black, 
with occasional grayish hairs. The sides of the neck and body and under parts are plumbeous 
gray, with a preponderance of dusky on the throat and between the fore legs. The-upper parts 
show cloudings of black, the amount increasing to the tail, which is black externally, with 
plumbeous gray showing through. 
The soft fur on the middle of the back is plumbeous brown, lighter anteriorly, and becoming 
paler towards the sides and on the belly. The long hairs which form a kind of mane between 
the shoulders, and are there five inches long, are grayish-white at the base, then dark brown, 
then again grayish-white and tipped with black. The basal white is concealed among the fur; 
the subterminal portion gives the grayish shades of color. On the tail the hairs are grayish- 
white from the base beyond the middle, and tipped with black. The hairs on the extreme tip 
of the tail are black throughout. 
The specimen described above is from Fort Union, Nebraska. A skin brought by Dr. Suckley 
from Puget’s Sound is almost precisely similar ; it is, however, larger, and with a greater pro¬ 
portion of black, this color on the long hairs encroaching on the cinereous or grayish portion, 
which is clearer than in the Fort Union skin. 
Dimensions of No. 46. 
Inches. 
From nose to root of tail_ 
36 
Tail to end of vertebrae_:_ 
10 
Tail to end of hairs_ 
131 
The Steilacoom species must have been considerably larger, measuring a little over three feet 
from the ears to the root of the tail. 
List of Specimens. 
Catalogue 
number. 
Locality. 
When collected. 
Whence obtained. 
Original 
number. 
Nature of specimen. 
46 
Fort Union, Nebraska_ 
1850 
A. Culbertson_ 
Skin.___ 
1013 
Steilacoom, W. T_ 
1855 
Dr. Geo. Suckley, U. S. A... 
66 
..do. 
