Mammals Taken Along the Alaska Highway

Part 1

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Mammals Taken Along the Alaska Highway

ROLLIN H. BAKER

University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History

Volume 5, No. 9, pp. 87-117, 1 figure in text November 28, 1951

University of Kansas LAWRENCE 1951

University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History

Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, A. Byron Leonard, Edward H. Taylor, Robert W. Wilson

Volume 5, No. 9, pp. 87-117, 1 figure in text November 28, 1951

University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas

PRINTED BY FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER TOPEKA, KANSAS 1951 [Union Label] 23-7607

Mammals Taken Along the Alaska Highway

ROLLIN H. BAKER

INTRODUCTION

Mammals from along the Alaska Highway were obtained for the University of Kansas Museum of Natural History in the summers of 1947 and 1948 by Mr. J. R. Alcorn, field representative of the Museum. He and his family visited Alberta, British Columbia, the Yukon Territory and Alaska in an automobile and trailer from June 9, 1947, to September 6, 1947, and again from June 8, 1948, to August 24, 1948. In 1947, considerable time was spent by Alcorn in Alaska; trips were made on the Steese Highway to Circle and on the Glenn Highway to Anchorage. In 1948, most of the collecting was done in British Columbia and in the Yukon Territory but a side trip was taken to Haines, Alaska. The collecting stations are shown in figure 1. Alcorn's 1,252 specimens include several large series from areas where few or no mammals had been taken previously. Time spent at each collecting station was of short duration (usually less than three days) and although 56 species and subspecies of mammals are represented in the collections, it is recognized that not all of the kinds of mammals at any one locality were taken.

For the loan of comparative mammalian material, grateful acknowledgment is made to officials of the following institutions: California Academy of Sciences; Biological Surveys collection of the U. S. National Museum; Provincial Museum, Victoria, B. C.; National Museum of Canada. The promptness of officials of the game commissions of the provinces and territories concerned, in providing permits for collecting also is acknowledged. A part of the funds for field work was made available by a grant from the Kansas University Endowment Association. Elevations above sea level are given in feet. Capitalized color terms refer to those in Ridgway, Color Standards and Color Nomenclature, Washington, D. C., 1912.

COLLECTING LOCALITIES SHOWN IN FIGURE 1.

Alaska

1. Circle.

2. Twelve Mile Summit, Steese Highway.

3. Chatanika River, 14 mi. E and 25 mi. N Fairbanks.

4. 1 mi. SW Fairbanks.

5. North side Salcha River, 25 mi. S and 20 mi. E Fairbanks.

6. Richardson Highway, 32 mi. S and 4 mi. W Big Delta.

7. Yerrick Creek, 21 mi. W and 4 mi. N Tok Junction.

8. Tok Junction.

9. Fish Creek, 5 mi. N and 1 mi. E Paxson.

10. East side Deadman Lake, 15 mi. SE Northway.

Part 2

11. Glenn Highway, 6 mi. WSW Snowshoe Lake.

12. 1 mi. NE Anchorage.

13. East side Chilkat River, 9 mi. W and 4 mi. N Haines.

14. 1 mi. S Haines.

Yukon Territory

To avoid undue crowding, or overlapping, of symbols, two or more collecting localities, in some instances, are represented by a single symbol (solid circle) in figure 1.

15. Junction Grafe and Edith Creeks.

16. 6 mi. SW Kluane.

17. East side Aishihik River, 17 mi. N Canyon.

18. 25 mi. NW Whitehorse.

19. { 2 mi. NNW Whitehorse. { McIntyre Creek, 3 mi. NW Whitehorse. { 1 mi. NE Whitehorse. { 1/2 mi. W Whitehorse.

20. West side Lewes River, 2 mi. S Whitehorse.

21. { Marshall Creek, 3 mi. N Dezadeash River. { Champagne, North side Dezadeash Lake. { SW end Dezadeash Lake.

22. { 5 mi. W Teslin River, 16 mi. S and 53 mi. E Whitehorse. { 2 mi. W Teslin River, 16 mi. S and 56 mi. E Whitehorse. { West side Teslin River, 16 mi. S and 58 mi. E Whitehorse. { East side Teslin River, 16 mi. S and 59 mi. E Whitehorse.

23. { Unahini River, 5 mi. N and 1 mi. E Dalton Post. { Unahini River, 3 mi. N and 1 mi. E Dalton Post.

24. 11/2 mi. E Tatshenshini River, 11/2 mi. S and 3 mi. E Dalton Post.

British Columbia

25. 1 mi. NW junction of Irons Creek and Liard River.

26. Screw Creek, 10 mi. S and 50 mi. E Teslin.

27. { 15 mi. NW Kelsall Lake. { Stonehouse Creek, 51/2 mi. W junction Stonehouse Creek and { Kelsall River.

28. 14 mi. N Fort Halkett, West side Smith River.

29. West side Mt. Glave, 14 mi. S and 2 mi. E Kelsall Lake.

30. North side Liard River, Fort Halkett.

31. { Hot Springs, 3 mi. WNW junction Trout River and Liard River. { North side Liard River, 1/2 mi. W junction Trout River and { Liard River. { 1/4 mi. S junction Trout River and Liard River.

32. 12 mi. S junction Trout River and Liard River.

33. { NE end Muncho Lake. { SE end Muncho Lake.

34. 10 mi. W Fort Nelson.

35. North side Muskwa River, 4 mi. W Fort Nelson.

Part 3

36. South side Toad River, 10 mi. S and 21 mi. E Muncho Lake.

37. Summit Pass, 10 mi. S and 70 mi. W Fort Nelson.

38. North Fork Tetsa River, 4 mi. ENE Summit Pass.

39. East side Minaker River, 1 mi. W Trutch.

40. Buckinghorse River, 94 mi. S Fort Nelson.

41. Beatton River, 115 mi. S Fort Nelson.

42. 5 mi. W and 3 mi. N Fort St. John.

Alberta

43. Assineau River, 10 mi. E and 1 mi. N Kinuso.

ACCOUNTS OF SPECIES

Sorex cinereus cinereus Kerr

Cinereous Shrew

Sorex arcticus cinereus Kerr, Animal Kingdom, p. 206, 1792. (Type from Fort Severn, Ontario, Canada.)

Sorex cinereus cinereus Jackson, Jour. Mamm., 6:56, February 9, 1925.

Specimens examined.--Total 56, as follows: Alaska: Chatanika River, 700 ft., 14 mi. E and 25 mi. N Fairbanks, 3; N side Salcha River, 600 ft., 25 mi. S and 20 mi. E Fairbanks, 10; Yerrick Creek, 21 mi. W and 4 mi. N Tok Junction, 2; E side Deadman Lake, 1800 ft., 15 mi. SE Northway, 1. Yukon Territory: 6 mi. SW Kluane, 2550 ft., 1; McIntyre Creek, 2250 ft., 3 mi. NW Whitehorse, 2; W side Lewes River, 2150 ft., 2 mi. S Whitehorse, 2; SW end Dezadeash Lake, 4; 11/2 mi. S and 3 mi. E Dalton Post, 2500 ft., 10. British Columbia: Stonehouse Creek, 51/2 mi. W jct. Stonehouse Creek and Kelsall River, 9; Hot Springs, 3 mi. WNW jct. Trout River and Liard River, 6; 1/4 mi. S jct. Trout River and Liard River, 4; 5 mi. W and 3 mi. N Fort St. John, 1. Alberta: Assineau River, 1920 ft., 10 mi. E and 1 mi. N Kinuso, 1.

Remarks.--Shrews from extreme northwestern British Columbia (Stonehouse Creek) average slightly larger than typical S. c. cinereus, especially in length of tail. These animals show definite evidence of intergradation with the larger subspecies, S. c. streatori, but are referable to S. c. cinereus. The pallor of some shrews from east-central Alaska (Chatanika River and Salcha River) suggests intergradation with the pale S. c. hollisteri.

Alcorn found the cinereous shrew at most of his trapping stations. It was captured in mouse traps baited with "chewed" rolled oats; one was taken in a trap baited with a grasshopper. Rand (1944:35) and Alcorn each found this shrew to be one of the commoner mammals along the Alaska Highway, but Alcorn did not find it to be so abundant as some of the rodents in areas in which he trapped. The cinereous shrew was taken principally in moist woodlands, grassy areas, and adjacent to water. One female taken on July 18 was lactating.

Sorex cinereus streatori Merriam

Cinereous Shrew

Sorex personatus streatori Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 10:62, December 31, 1895. (Type from Yakutat, Alaska.)

Sorex cinereus streatori Jackson, Jour. Mamm., 6:56, February 9, 1925.

Specimens examined.--Total 19, as follows: Alaska: E side Chilkat River, 100 ft., 9 mi. W and 4 mi. N Haines, 10; 1 mi. S Haines, 5 ft., 9.

Remarks.--Average and extreme external measurements of the nine adult specimens from 1 mile south of Haines are as follows: Total length, 103 (98-105); tail, 45 (43-46); and condylobasal length, 16.2 (16.0-16.4). Corresponding measurements of an adult specimen (No. 1676, UKMNH) from Sitka, Alaska, are 108, 47, and 16.5. Measurements of ten adult specimens from the Chilkat River, 9 miles west and 4 miles north of Haines, are 100 (91-106), 44 (40-50), 16.0 (15.5-16.5). The slightly smaller average size of the latter specimens indicates a trend toward the smaller S. c. cinereus, which occurs farther inland. Skulls of some of the specimens from the Chilkat River have a more slender rostrum than those of the specimens from 1 mile south of Haines, and more nearly resemble S. c. cinereus in this respect. Evidently, as indicated by Jackson (1928:54), S. c. streatori occupies only an extremely narrow strip of mainland in the vicinity of Haines.

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