University of Virginia Library


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B. APPENDIX B

CANID REMAINS FROM PUEBLO BONITO AND
PUEBLO DEL ARROYO

By GLOVER M. ALLEN[1]

Among the bones recovered in the course of excavations at Pueblo
Bonito and Pueblo del Arroyo are many limb bones, fragments of
skulls, and a few nearly complete skeletons of doglike mammals. A
large part of these are from Kivas F and I, Pueblo del Arroyo, with
a few from other rooms designated by number. These bones include
skulls and leg bones of at least two red foxes (Vulpes), a few bones
of gray fox (Urocyon), other fragmentary skeletons representing at
least 30 coyotes and about 12 Indian dogs. A few parts of skulls and
limb bones represent also a bay lynx (Lynx) and Berlandier's badger
(Taxidea). Whether the coyotes and the badgers burrowed into the
rooms after these were abandoned by the Indians, making use of them
for shelter and eventually dying in them, may not be possible to tell,
but it is noticeable that nearly all the coyote remains are those of adult
or even old animals. The dog bones are nearly all of one type, representing
a medium-sized dog with slender muzzle and high, elevated
forehead, apparently the same as that I have in a previous paper (Bull.
Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 63, p. 449, 1920) called the Plains Indian dog,
or perhaps the long-haired breed (ibid., p. 456). In view of the considerable
number of skulls and limb bones available from this single
locality, it seems worth while to add the following notes and measurements
for comparison with those of similar remains from elsewhere.

Urocyon cinereoargenteus scottii Mearns, Scott's gray fox.—A
characteristic piece of the cranium, and a few leg bones were among
the fragments submitted.

Vulpes fulva macroura Baird, western red fox.—Two slightly


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broken skulls and some leg bones from Room 334 agree almost exactly
in size with corresponding parts of the eastern red fox, of which, there
seems no doubt, macroura is to be regarded a subspecies as Bailey has
done (North Amer. Fauna, No. 35, 1913).

One of the skulls measures: Palatal length, 68 mm.; back of last
molar to front of canine, 64; length of last premolar (p4), 14; zygomatic
width (circa), 73; width outside first molars, 37.5; width outside
canines, 22; length of nasals, medially, 48; across frontal shield,
34; occipito-nasal length, 125; basal length (circa), 127; width of
brain case, 48.

The limb bones measure: Humerus length, 127 mm.; radius, 110;
tibia, 140; femur, 137.

Canis lestes Merriam, mountain coyote.—While bones of wolves are
apparently absent from the collection studied, those of a large coyote
of the nebrascensis type are the most numerous of all the canids represented.
Several nearly complete skulls, many jaws, and numbers of
limb bones agree in being slightly larger than the corresponding parts
of two coyote skeletons from Kansas taken to represent the Nebraska
coyote (Canis latrans nebrascensis Merriam). In the present uncertain
status of the various forms of large coyote, the bones may be referred
to Canis lestes, typical in Nevada, but supposed to have a wide range
to the northward and southward, reaching the Mexican boundary. The
skulls are characterized by their long, slender muzzle, low, hardly
elevated forehead, and relatively compressed teeth, which are smaller
than those of a wolf but larger and sharper-cusped than those of the
dog. The limb bones are longer than those of the dog, but much more
slender than those of a wolf. At the distal end of the humerus the
olecranal foramen is always a large perforation, whereas in the Indian
dogs it is usually much smaller, or it may be entirely filled in by bone.
In the tables following are given the dimensions of several of the lessbroken
skulls as well as measurements of limb bones.

The longest of associated metapodials measured 81 mm.; transverse
width of atlas, 71; greatest length of scapula, 126; its width, 60.5. In
one case a third lower molar, instead of having a simple peglike root,
had this portion nearly divided by a deep vertical groove.

Since most of the coyote skulls were of full-grown adults, it is
assumed that some of the variation in size is correlated with sex, the
smaller bones probably those of females. A large part of the bones
are somewhat injured at the ends, so that a relatively small number
were sufficiently perfect to measure.

Canis familiaris Linnaeus, Indian dog.—Two nearly complete skeletons
were found in addition to four other skulls in fair condition, as


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Measurements of coyote crania (mm.)[2]

                         
a  b  c  d  e  f  g  h 
Occiput to gnathion  199  203 
Basal length  177  182 
Palatal length  98  96  93  94  96 
Length, back of p4 to front of
canine 
73  72  68  68.5  68  73  72 
Length of p4  20.2  20  20.5  19.5  20.5  21  20.3  20 
Zygomatic width  94  99 
Width outside first molars  54  55  54  53  57  57  58  56 
Width outside canines  32  31.5  30+  29  33  32  34 
Mastoid width  61  62  68  61 
Width of frontal shield  43  52  51 
Width of occipital condyles  35  35 
Width of brain case  57  56+  59  63 

Measurements of coyote jaws[3]

       
a  b  c  d  e  f  g  h 
Condyle to front of alveolus of
incisor 
144  132  139  140  146  148  150  150 
Back of last molar to front of
canine 
99  92  95  96  99  102  102.5  102 
Length of first molar  23  22.5  22.5  22.5  21.5  23.2  23.5  23.5 

Measurements of coyote bones

                     
a  b  c  d  e  f  g  h 
Humerus, length  151  157  158  156  162  163  163  167 
width distally  32.5  29  29  27.5  29  29  29  29.5 
Radius, length  164  170  171  172  174  175.5  162  180 
Ulna, length  175  119  190  196  196  203  195 
Femur, length  164  170  180  180  182  178 
width distally  31  29  29  30  30  29 
Tibia, length  170  169  181  184  185  188  195  188 
width of head  33.5  30  32.5  30  31  31.5  31  34 
Fibula, length  151 
Pelvis, greatest length  123  129  129  142 
well as a number of associated limb bones, which are clearly of the
domestic dog. One nearly perfect skull is that of a puppy with milk
dentition. The skulls are all of one type, representing the common,
medium-size breed of dog, probably here similar to what I have called
the Plains Indian Dog, or the long-haired variety such as Dr. Kidder
and Mr. Guernsey found mummified at White Dog Cave, Arizona.[4]

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It has a skull considerably smaller and with smaller teeth than the
coyote's; the forehead is well elevated above the plane of the rostrum;
the muzzle is rather slender and delicate; and the brain case has a
strong sagittal ridge, which is reduced slightly behind at the occiput.
The lower jaw, in addition to its smaller size and shorter-crowned
carnassial, usually differs from that of the coyote in having the tooth
row much more obviously bent outward with the apex of the bow at
the region of the first molar. One of the skeletons is that of an immature
dog with the epiphyses still free, a smallish animal; another differs
from the other specimens in being much larger and heavier-boned,
with stout jaws, and a large skull, with, however, the usual high
forehead and strong sagittal crest. It is so different from the other
remains that it might be thought to represent another breed of dog.
The associated limb bones, presumed to belong to the same individual,
are longer and heavier than usual, about equaling those of a coyote in
length, but not so slender. The humeri are widely perforate distally.
The dimensions of this specimen are those given last in the following
tables. The possibility that this was a hybrid between dog and coyote
may not be overlooked, but although such crosses are said to occur,
no skeletons of these mongrels are available for comparison. A few
among the limb bones referred to dogs are much shorter than the
average and may represent a smaller breed, or perhaps smallish females,
but no evidence was found of any dog of the smaller type—
"techichi' or short-nosed dog ("Pachycyon"). In most of the humeri,
the olecranal perforation was relatively less than in the coyote; in some
cases it was very small and again was absent altogether, a trait common
in the American Indian dogs. No abnormalities in the number of
teeth were noticed.

These dimensions are slightly smaller than those published in my
previous paper for dog remains from Pecos, N. Mex., and from San
Nicolas Island, Calif.; but in size of teeth agree with those of the
short-legged dog of the eastern and northern parts of America.

The scapula measured in two specimens is 101 mm. in greatest
length, and 52 mm. in greatest width. The pelvis is 120 and 122 mm.,
respectively, in two cases, but in the large dog mentioned is 149. The
length of the longest metapodial is 60 to 62 mm. There is some variation
in the details of the cusps on the teeth; in one case the anteriormost
lower premolar has a small secondary cusp. Compared with limb
bones from eastern United States these New Mexican bones are considerably
shorter than those of the larger Indian dog, but agree very
well with what I have called the short-legged Indian dog, except for
the large specimen, which equals the former in size.



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illustration

Plate 101.—Dog skeleton on floor of Kiva F, Pueblo del Arroyo. (Photograph by O. C. Havens, 1925.)



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Measurements of Indian dog crania, Pueblo del Arroyo (mm.)[5]

                               
a  b  c  d  e  f 
Occiput to gnathion  161  162  166  168  173  185 
Basal length  146  146  147.5  146  149  168 
Palatal length  82  83  82  83  95 
Back of p4 to front of canine  56.5  72  60  56  58  69 
Length of p4  16.5  17  17.5  17  16  22 
Width outside first molars  59  58±  56  58.5  67 
Width outside canines  35  34  33  42 
Width of brain case  51  55  50.5  53  53  58 
Mastoid width  59  58  59  59  58  69 
Width of condyles  31  32  41 
Zygomatic width  90  93± 
Width of frontal shield  45  47 
Jaw, condyle to base of incisor  122  120  125  124  125.5  144 
Back of last molar to front of canine  81  81  84  80  80  96 
Length of first lower molar  19.6  20.5  21  20  18  25.5 

Measurements of Indian dog bones

                   
a  b  c  d  e  f 
Humerus, length  130  140  127  119  158 
width distally  23  28.5  27.5  22  25  35 
Radius, length  119  129  115  126  139  159 
Ulna, length  155.5  153  130  150  188 
Femur, length  143  137  148  173 
width distally  25.5  24.5  28.5  34 
Tibia, length  148  140  141  141  173 
width of head  29  28  30  27  38 
Fibula, length  126  127  158 


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[1]

Dr. Allen, then curator of mammals, Museum of Comparative Zoology at
Harvard College, submitted this preliminary report in 1927 and expected to add
to it. Ten years later, when advised that I had resumed preparation of the present
volume, Dr. Allen wrote that he had no changes to make. The remains he
describes were divided equally between the institution he represented and the
U. S. National Museum. Dr. Allen died in 1942 without, to my sincere regret,
having seen in print this further contribution to his life-long study of the American
Indian dog. Miss Barbara Lawrence, of the Museum of Comparative Zoology,
has kindly proofread these pages.—N.M.J.

[2]

Pueblo Bonito: a is Field No. 1484, shallowly buried in Kiva R; b-d are from debris of
occupation in Room 334. Pueblo del Arroyo: e, f, h, from Kiva I; g, unidentified.

[3]

Pueblo Bonito: a is part of No. 1484, Kiva R; b-d, from Room 334; e, from Room 323.
Pueblo del Arroyo: f-h, from Kiva I.

[4]

Pap. Peabody Mus. Amer. Archaeol. and Ethnol., Harvard University, vol. 8,
No. 2, p. 44, 1921.

[5]

a, from Room 37; b, Kiva I; c-e, Kiva F, e (No. 484) being seen in situ on plate 101;
f, unidentified.