When Anderson (op. cit.:54) recognized the subspecies Canis lupus knightii [= C. l. griseoalbus] he made no mention of a specimen of wolf from Norway House, Manitoba, which Goldman (op. cit., 1944:427) had referred to C. l. occidentalis, but the subspecific identity of which was placed in doubt by Anderson's action. We have examined the specimen, No. 115995, in the Biological Surveys Collection, U.S. National Museum, and have compared it with specimens, including topotypes, of C. l. occidentalis and C. l. hudsonicus. The specimen fits the description of C. l. griseoalbus and differs from C. l. occidentalis in its long and narrow incisive foramina, larger skull, more nearly straight frontal profile (not markedly concave), and slightly higher coronoid processes. Other differences alleged to obtain between these two subspecies offer no assistance in the present case. The specimen from Norway House differs from C. l. hudsonicus in larger size of skull and stouter, blunter, postorbital processes, the posterior borders of which turn less abruptly inward. In brief, among currently recognized subspecies, the specimen from Norway House seems best referred to Canis lupus griseoalbus Baird.
Canis niger rufus Audubon and Bachman
Goldman (Part II, Classification of wolves, p. 486, In The wolves of North America, American Wildlife Institute, May 29, 1944) referred two specimens of the red wolf from Reeds Spring, Missouri, to the subspecies C. n. gregoryi. Leopold and Hall (Jour. Mamm., 26(2):143, July 19, 1945) referred wolves from 5 mi. N Gainesville and from 3 mi. N Thomasville, both localities in Missouri, to C. n. rufus. The identification of Leopold and Hall was made on the basis of the small size of their specimens and they did not have the advantage of comparative material. The locations of these and other records of occurrence in Missouri and Arkansas suggest that the specimens from Reeds Spring might be better referred to C. n. rufus, the more western subspecies. An examination and comparison of the two specimens from Reeds Spring, Nos. 244127 and 244527, Biological Surveys Collection, discloses that they are intergrades between C. n. rufus and C. n. gregoryi. They resemble C. n. rufus in small size and cranial characters, but are more nearly C. n. gregoryi in the darker, less brightly rufescent color of the pelage. Being, in this case, more strongly influenced by the size and cranial features than by the color, we consider the animals from Reeds Spring best referred to Canis niger rufus.
Transmitted July 15, 1952.