Mammals from Southeastern Alaska Part 1

Mammals from Southeastern Alaska.

by Rollin H. Baker and James S. Findley.

The University of Kansas Museum of Natural History received from J. R.

Alcorn and Albert A. Alcorn a sizable collection of mammals taken in the summer of 1951 in Alaska. In addition to visiting localities at which they had collected in 1947 and 1948 (see Baker, Univ. Kansas Publ., Mus.

Nat. Hist., 5:87-117, 1951) the Alcorns obtained specimens from localities not previously visited in the vicinity of Anchorage and Haines and from Sullivan Island, a small, timbered island in the Lynn Ca.n.a.l. A part of the funds for field work was made available by the Kansas University Endowment a.s.sociation. The loan of specimens for comparative study from the Biological Surveys Collection of the United States National Museum is acknowledged.

=_Sorex obscurus alascensis_= Merriam. Dusky Shrew.--Comparison of two specimens from 7 miles SSE Haines and eight from Sullivan Island (six from the northeast end of the island and two from the southeast end) with topotypes of _Sorex obscurus longicauda_ Merriam from Wrangell, Alaska, and with topotypes of _Sorex obscurus alascensis_ from Yakutat, Alaska, shows that our specimens are intermediate between the two named kinds. However in nine of ten characters these specimens more closely resemble _S. o. alascensis_ than _S. o. longicauda_. Measurements of specimens from Wrangell and from localities progressively northward along the Alaskan coast reveal a decrease in size of the skull in a clinal fas.h.i.+on. Specimens from Sullivan Island are larger than those from the mainland south of Haines, which are in turn larger than specimens from 9 miles W and 4 miles N of Haines (reported upon by Baker, _op. cit._). No step is apparent in this cline and a.s.signment of specimens must be made on a somewhat arbitrary basis. Specimens from Juneau, Alaska, in the Biological Surveys Collection of the United States National Museum, were a.s.signed by Jackson (N. Amer. Fauna, 51: 128, 1928) to _S. o. alascensis_ but seem to us to be closer to _S. o.

longicauda_.

=_Sorex pal.u.s.tris navigator_= (Baird). Water Shrew.--Two males taken on August 5, at Peters Creek, elevation 300 ft., 20 miles NE of Anchorage provide a northwestern extension of the known range of this species. In external and cranial characters the males resemble _S. p. navigator_ from 9 miles W and 4 miles N of Haines, Alaska, and from Was.h.i.+ngton County, Idaho. The specimens from Peters Creek do not agree with the description of _Sorex alaska.n.u.s_ Merriam as given by Jackson (_op.

cit._:189) although one, a second year animal, has the lambdoidal crests exceptionally well developed, as does _S. alaska.n.u.s_.

=_Myotis lucifugus lucifugus_= (LeConte). Little Brown Myotis.--A male taken at Peters Creek, elevation 300 ft., 20 miles NE of Anchorage, is darker than specimens a.s.signed to this subspecies from northeastern British Columbia (Muncho Lake). Eight skins and skulls (three adults and five young of the year) and 18 specimens in alcohol taken at Screw Creek, elevation 2600 ft., mile 742 (10 miles S and 50 miles E Teslin, Yukon Territory), British Columbia, seem typical of _M. l. lucifugus_.

These were obtained on August 11, 1951, at the same locality where on July 1, 1947, a single bat a.s.signed to _M. l. alascensis_ Miller was taken (see Baker, _op. cit._:95). The latter specimen is readily distinguished by its darker color both above and below from those taken in 1951.

=_Tamiasciurus hudsonicus kenaiensis_= Howell. Red Squirrel.--A female taken at Peters Creek, elevation 300 ft., 20 miles NE of Anchorage, is referred to this subspecies after comparison with the published description of _T. h. kenaiensis_ Howell (Proc. Biol. Soc. Was.h.i.+ngton, 49:136, 1936), with specimens of _T. h. preblei_ Howell from Yerrick Creek, Alaska, and with _T. h. petulans_ (Osgood) from 1 mile S of Haines.

=_Tamiasciurus hudsonicus petulans_= (Osgood). Red Squirrel.--Three specimens were taken on Chilkat Peninsula, elevation 10 ft., 7 miles SSE of Haines, Alaska, and one at the southeast end of Sullivan Island.

These squirrels, taken in June and July, are molting on the sides, back and rump. Compared with the specimens from the mainland the male from Sullivan Island is paler on the back--near (_h_) Ochraceous-Tawny instead of near (14_j_) Sudan Brown (capitalized color terms from Ridgway, Color Standards and Color Nomenclature, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C., 1912)--and paler on the tail; otherwise this specimen resembles those from the mainland.

=_Peromyscus maniculatus algidus_= Osgood. Deer Mouse.--Osgood (N. Amer.

Fauna, 28:54, 1909) reported intergradation between _P. m. algidus_ and _P. m. hylaeus_ Osgood in the "region of Lynn Ca.n.a.l." One female from the mouth of the Endicott River, elevation 10 ft., seems referable to _algidus_. In comparison with two topotypes of _hylaeus_ this specimen is not so dark and more nearly agrees with _algidus_ from the Chilkat River, from 1 mile W of Haines and from Dezadeash Lake, Yukon Territory.

=_Phenacomys intermedius mackenzii_= Preble. Mountain Phenacomys.--An adult female was taken on 28 July at the southwestern end of Dezadeash Lake, elevation 2400 ft., in Yukon Territory (approximately 60 miles from the Alaskan boundary north of the Lynn Ca.n.a.l), the same place where a specimen was obtained in 1948 (see Baker, _op. cit._:104).

=_Microtus longicaudus littoralis_= Swarth. Long-tailed Vole.--Six of these voles were taken on Sullivan Island (two at the northeast end and four at the southeast end) and another was trapped on the mainland at the mouth of the Endicott River. All seven resemble _M. l. littoralis_ from the vicinity of Haines. One large adult male from the island has the following measurements: Total length, 202; length of tail, 71; length of hind foot, 21; height of ear from notch, 13.

=_Microtus oeconomus macfarlani_= Merriam. Tundra Vole.--Five specimens from 5 miles NNE of Gulkana, Alaska, 1700 ft., and four from Peters Creek, elevation 300 ft., 20 miles NE of Anchorage, Alaska, are a.s.signed to this subspecies. In color they resemble _macfarlani_ from eastern Alaska (14 miles E and 25 miles N of Fairbanks) and are darker than _M.

o. operarius_ (Nelson) from Tyonek, but judging from the description by Bailey (N. Amer. Fauna, 17:41, 1900), are not so dark as _M. o.

yakutatensis_ Merriam. These mice were taken inland from the coast. It is likely that the coastal population more nearly resembles either _operarius_ or _yakutatensis_.

=_Erethizon dorsatum myops_= Merriam. Porcupine.--Skulls of two females obtained from the Chilkat Peninsula, elevation 10 ft., 7 miles SSE of Haines, Alaska, agree with those of the same s.e.x of _myops_ from Yerrick Creek, Alaska, and from 2 miles W of the Teslin River, Yukon Territory.

The skull of the older animal has the longer nasals and more p.r.o.nounced cranial ridges, which perhaps indicate a tendency toward _E. d.

nigrescens_ Allen, which occurs to the southward (see Anderson, Canadian Jour. Res., 21:304, 1943).

_Transmitted October 8, 1953._