国立科学博物館所蔵ヤマイヌ剥製標本はニホンオオカミCanis lupus hodophilaxか？

抄録

A mounted skin of unknown species belonging to genus Canis deposited in the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo (NSMT) is certificated morphologically and bibliographically. The specimen label is described as ‘a kind of Yamainu’ and M831 of the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum collection, while the specimen catalog says that M831 was derived from an individual kept at Ueno Zoo and that it was disposed of after. This specimen seemed to be confused with another one. So, we examined the morphological characteristics of this specimen and traced the history of Canis sp. specimens of the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum collection and Canis sp. kept at Ueno Zoo. As a result, measurements of this mounted skin were reasonable to be within the range of specimens previously identified as Japanese wolves. We confirmed that this specimen is correctly labeled as M831. This specimen M831 was considered to be one of two wolves that arrived at Ueno Zoo from Iwate Prefecture, Japan, in 1888. Therefore, it is thought that this specimen is a Japanese wolf. This study may have revealed a new Japanese wolf skin specimen that had previously been overlooked.