A new polar hare from Labrador

73

VOL. XIII, PP. 39-40

MAY

_29, 1-899

PROCEEDINGS

OFTHE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

A NEW POLAR HARE FROM LABRADOR*

BY GERRIT

S.

MILLER,

^JR.

Certain

marked

discrepancies are

apparent

ⁱⁿ

the measure ments

^of

Polar Hares from Labrador and Newfoundland tabu

lated

under tbe name _Lepus

arcticus bangsi

by ^Mr. Samuel N.

Rhoads

in his recent ^'

Synopsis

^of

the Polar Hares

of

North America.'

_f

They

^are,

however, passed by ^without comment.

On _examining the specimens

^inthe

United

States

National Mu

seum,

_together

^{with a few}

^lent

me _by Mr. Outram _Bangs,

I find that these differences are correlated

with

_others,

both

cranial

and

_external,

and

that

the Labrador Polar Hare

is readily

sep

arable

from

true

Lepus

bangsi

(Rhoads)

^of

Newfoundland.

^Its relationship ^to

the Polar Hare

of Baffin

Land, Lepus

^arcticus Ross,is,

through ^the

^lossof

^Mr. Kumlien's _specimens,

lesseasily

determinable. Lepus

arcticus,

however, according

^to

the

best tes

timony, never assumes

^a

complete dark summer

coat

;

while the

Mingle skull that^I

have examined

differs

from

that of

any

^of

^the Labrador _specimens. As the Polar Hare

of

Labrador cannot be

identified

with

either

Lepus

^arcticusor

Lepus

bangsi^it

may ^stand

as:

Lepus

labradorius _sp.nov.

1896. Lepus^arcticusbangsiRhoads,

American

Naturalist,

XXX,

p. 253.

March,1896 (part).

Type

locality, Codroy, Newfoundland.

1896. Lepus ^arcticus bangsi Rhoads, ^Proc.Acad. Nat. Sci.Philadelphia, p. 365. August4,1896 (part).

Cotypes: Skin No. _14149, UnitedStates National

Museum,

collected at Fort

Chimo,

Ungava,Labrador,September28, 1882,

by

^Lucien

M.

Turner

*Published by permission of Secretary of theSmithsonianInstitution.

tProc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia(1896),pp. 351-376.

in Hun.. Sue. WASH., ^VOL. XIII, ¹⁸⁹⁹ (3'J)

40 Milter

^.1

New

.Polar

Hare f mm Labrador.

(original

number

₁₁₈₀₎; skullNo.32132,UnitedStatesNational

Museum

,

same

_locality

and

_collector,

no

furtherdata _(original

number

_2326).

Generalcharacters.

Most

like Lepus bangsi (Rhoads) from

Newfound

land,but withshorterhindfoot

and

_longerears. General colorof dorsal surfacein

summer

_pelageclearhair

brown

instead ofdull broccoli

brown

asin L. bangsi. Auditalbullee

more

inflated thaninL. bangsi. Differs fromthe Lepus^arcticusRossof Baffin

Land

inthe completely developed dark

summer

coat,

and

_apparentlyincranialcharacters also.

Color. Generalcolor of dorsalsurface hair

brown

_tingedwith bluish gray

and

frosted with whitish.

Head

clear, pale, hairbrown, lightest

on

cheeks

and

darkest

on crown and

forehead. Earsgrizzled black

and

hair

brown

anteriorly, whitish posteriorly,black atextremetip. Sides

and rump

^cleargray(Ridg way, Nomenclature of Colors, ^PI. II, No. _8).

Belly dull white.

Hind

feet whiteabove, tingedwith

brown

overbases oftoes. Frontfeet white, strongly tingedwith brown. Soles ofall four feet light

umber

brown. Tail

snowy

^white.

Skull.

The

skull of Lepus labradorius exactly resembles that of L.

bangsiexcept^intheform ofthe audital bullse. These are so

much

in flatedthatthey ^rise

(when

^{the skull is}held upside

down)

conspicuously above thesurfaceofthebasioccipital,

and

_slightlyabove thelevelofthe highest point ofthe_{occipital condyle.} InL. bangsithebullre risevery slightlyabove the surface ofbasioccipital,

and

_generally notto levelof condyle.

The

ventralexposure^ofthe bullseisinLepuslabradoriuscon siderablylonger than _broad, while in L. bangsithe_length

and

breadth are nearly eCmal.

Measurements.

Type:

^{* hindfoot} 140; earfrom

crown

_100; ear _{to tip} of hairs 108.

Another

_{specimen (No. 14793,} U. S. National

Museum)

^: hindfoot142; ear

from crown

105_; ear_{to tip}of hairs110.

*

The

_typeofLepus bangsi measures: total length 626^{; tail} vertebrae 63; hindfoot160; earfrom

crown

85. (Rhoads.)