American beaver -- Utah -- Classification; Beavers -- Classification
From one specimen of _Castor canadensis concisor_, from Trappers Lake,
Garfield County, Colorado, and from the original description of that
subspecies (Warren and Hall, 1939: 358), _C. c. duchesnei_ differs as
follows: Color: Lighter throughout. Skull: Nasals more convex
transversely; rostrum narrower; ventral border of rostrum more concave
dorsally, especially immediately behind upper incisors; distal end of
meatal tube smaller; angular process shorter and rounded rather than
pointed; cheek teeth smaller.
Among known subspecies of _Castor canadensis_, _C. c. duchesnei_ is most
like _Castor canadensis repentinus_, but differs from the latter as
follows: Size larger; hind foot shorter. Color: Darker throughout.
Skull: Basilar length less; mastoid breadth greater; nasals shorter and
narrower; extension of nasals posterior to premaxillae less; nasals more
convex transversely; cheek teeth smaller.
For comparisons with _Castor canadensis pallidus_ and _Castor canadensis
rostralis_, see accounts of those subspecies.
_Remarks._--The extent of the range of _C. c. duchesnei_ within the
drainage of the White River is not definitely known. Three animals from
9-1/2 miles southwest of Pagoda Peak, Rio Blanco County, Colorado, from
the drainage of the White River, are intergrades between _C. c.
concisor_ and _C. c. duchesnei_. They are like the latter subspecies in
shape and length of the nasals, less expanded distal end of the meatal
tube and the rounded angular process, and it appears best, pending the
acquisition of more material, to refer them to C. c. duchesnei. Another
specimen, number 2090, Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas,
from Trappers Lake, Garfield County, Colorado, at the headwaters of the
White River, and only 16 miles distant from the three aforementioned
animals, is, however, nearly typical of _C. c. concisor_. Relying upon
the original description (Warren and Hall, 1939: 358), this animal is
like _C. c. concisor_ in size and shape of the jugals, in size of the
distal end of the meatal tube and in the pointed end of the angular
process. Warren and Hall (_loc. cit._) noted that animals assignable to
_C. c. concisor_ occurred throughout the mountainous parts of Colorado,
and recorded them from the headwaters of nearly all the major rivers of
that state. Apparently _C. c. concisor_ also occurs in the headwaters of
the White River, while the main part of the river is inhabited by
animals referable to _C. c. duchesnei_.
_Specimens examined._--Total, 15 (4 skins and skulls, 11
skulls only), distributed as follows: Utah: _Wasatch
County_: Currant Creek, Strawberry Valley, 6,000 ft., 11.
_Duchesne County_: Duchesne River, 10 mi. NW Duchesne, 5,600
ft., 1. Colorado: _Rio Blanco County_: 9-1/2 mi. SW Pagoda
Peak, 7,700 ft., 3 (Museum of Natural History, University of
Kansas).
LITERATURE CITED
DAVIS, WILLIAM B.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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