University of Virginia Library

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

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

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]
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.

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

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