Allen, J. A. (Joel Asaph), 1838-1921.

Condit, B. C.

Granger, Walter, 1872-1941.

Price Expedition to Arizona (1894)

Price, William W.

p. 317-332 ; 24 cm.Includes bibliographical references

American Museum of Natural History Scientific Publications

New North American mammals

Article XV.-DESCRIPTIONS OF FIVE NEW NORTHAMERICAN MAMMALS.By J. A. ALLEN.As some time must elapse before the publication of the finalreports on the Granger and Price Collections of Mammals,recently received by the Museum (see ante(t, p. 3I7), it seemsdesirable to place on record the following additional new formscontained in these collections.Arvicola insperatus, sp. nov.Apparently not readily distinguishable externally from Arvicola longicaudusMerriam, except that the tail is one-third shorter. In cranial characters thetwo species are widely different. In A. longicaudus M2 has only four closedtriangles, while A. insperatus has five, with a shorter and relatively narrowerskull; the post-palatal notch is very narrow-little more than half as wide as inA. longicaudus, and the zygoma is much heavier -nearly twice as broad as inA. longicaudus. There are also many minor differences in the structuraldetails of the skull and teeth, especially in the form of the trefoil of MI.Measurenments.-Two adult males measure as follows: Total length, 154and I68; tail vertebrae, 43 and 41 ; hind foot, 19 and 20.5 mm.Two adult examples of A. longicaudus, taken at the same time and place asthe above, measure as follows: Total length, 8 (rather young), i8o, Y (adult),I83 ; tail vertebrae, 8, 63, Y, 62 ; hind foot, 8, 23, Y, 21.Type, No. I` 8 ad., Custer, S. D., August 9, i894; W. W. Granger(Granger Collection).This species is based on 5 specimens (2 88 ad., i Y ad., and2 38 juv., about one-third grown), taken at Custer, Black Hills,South Dakota, July 27 to August ii, 1894, by Mr. WV. W. Granger.Lepus texianus eremicus, subsp. nov.Similar to L. texianus (as restricted by Dr. Mearns1), but much smaller.No very obvious difference in coloration.Type, No. 04 ad., Fairbank, Arizona, March 5, 1894; Price and Condit(Price Collection). Total length, 565; tail vertebrxe, 74; hind foot, 123 ; earfrom crown, 128 mm.Dr. Mearns in his discussion (1. c.) of the proper application ofthe name Lepus texianus Waterhouse very properly, I think,I This Bulletin, II, I8qo, pp. 297-301.[347]348 Bulletin American AMuseum of Natural History. [Vol. Vl,restricted it " exclusively to the form west of the Rocky Moun-tains." In his diagnoses of Lepus alleni, L. cal/otis, L. texianusand L. melanotis, he took for his type and as the basis of hisdescription of L. texianus specimen No. 2414, Am. Mus. Nat.Hist., V ad., Fort Verde, Arizona, January 8, I885 (Dr. E. A.Mearns; orig. No. I63). Fort Verde therefore becomes the typelocality of the restricted L. texianus.The Hares of the L. texianus group appear to be separable,principally on the ground of size, into two forms, a larger north-ern form, occurring in central Arizona and northward, and asmall souithern form, found in Southern Arizona (south of theplateau region) and southward into Mexico. Eleven specimens,mainly from Fort Verde, measured in the flesh by Dr. Mearns(see his table, 1. c., p. 302) give the following: Total length, 640(58o-66o); tail vertebrae, io6 (70-I24); hind foot, I45 (130-153); ear from crown, I71 (I55-I83). Dr. Merriam has pub-lished (N. Am. Fauna, No. 3, P. 76) measurements of three speci-mens from San Francisco Mountain and vicinity which come veryclose to Dr. Mearns's average of i i from Fort Verde.Eight specimens from the southern border of Arizona (Fairbank,Huachuca Mountains, etc.), as measured in the flesh by the col-lector, give the following : Total length, 58o (535-6io); tailvertebrae, 90(73-104); hind foot, 129 (I23-135); ear from crown,i6o (153-170).NOTE ON Lepus melanotis Mearns.-The reception of some20 specimens of L. melanotis during the last few months enablesme to correct an error made (this Bulletin, VI, p. I69) in refer-ence to some specimens from Rockport, Texas. The Rockportspecimens include examples of both L. cal/otis and L. melanotis; thelatter, in late autumn pelage, were mistaken for the winter phaseof L. cal/otis. The two forms are evidently distinct species,whose ranges in Texas overlap. L. me/anotis, on the other hand,as stated by Dr. Mearns (1. c., pp. 299, 300), is closely related toL. texianuts.Lepus sylvaticus pinetis, subsp. nov.Similar in size and proportions to Lepus s'lvaticus arizona', but muchdarker in coloration.I 894.] Allen, lVezew North American Mammals. 349Female adult, in worn breedingpelage.-Above as dark as L. s. floridanus,but with a rather different general effect. Underfur dark plumbeous at thebase, the apical third dark russet brown; overhair dusky, subterminally broadlytinged with whitish and tipped with black, the color of the upper parts extend-ing well on to the sides of the abdomen. Feet and ears much as in L. s. arizona?,but darker and much more heavily clothed. Pectoral band very much darker,and the fur of the ventral surface much more plumbeous at the base.Male adult, in fresh post-breedingpelage.-Color above about equally mixedblack and whitish gray with a faint tinge of pale buff. Underfur very darkslaty plumbeous, tipped with blackish brown; overhair basally like the under-fur, ringed subapically with soiled whitish and extensively tipped with black.Pectoral band plumbeous, the longer hairs tipped with fulvous gray. Forefeet externally reddish brown ; hind feet much paler.Measurements.-Total length, 8, 335, i, 425 ; tail vertebrae, 8, 40, X, 58hind foot, &, i00, Y, 105; ear from crown, 8, 69, Y, 64 mm.Type, No. 8 & ad., White Mountains, August I4, 1894; B. C. Condit(Price Collection).The two specimens on which the above description is basedrepresent a small Hare of the sylvaticus group, very different fromthe ordinary pale form of Arizona and contiguous regions, knownas Lepus arizonce, not only in its extremely dark coloration, but inits larger and much more heavily clothed hind feet, and relativelysmaller and much more hairy ears. One of the specimens is afemale in worn breeding pelage ; the other a male in fresh fallpelage.Sciurus arizonensis huachuca, subsp. nov.Similar to S. arizonensis, but upper surface nearly uniform gray, showingmerely a slight trace of the broad median dorsal area of fulvous seen in arizo-nensis. There is a small nape patch of pale fulvous, and a tinge of fulvousbelow the surface of the pelage over the middle of the back. The fulvous areaof the lower surface of the tail is slightly paler, and there is a greatly reducedamount of fulvous at the base of the hairs of the upper surface of the tail-these features correlating with the reduction in the amount of fulvous on the back.Type, No. T491w, 9 ad., Huachuca Mountains, February 20, 1894; W. W.Price (Price Collection). Total length, 540; tail vertebrae, 265 ; hind foot,70; ear, 34 mm.This subspecies is based on 4 specimens, all adult (2 , 2 ?)from the Huachuca Mountains, taken January 28 to February 20,by Messrs. Price and Condit. They are very uiniform in coloration,and differ widely from a large series of true arizonensis, includingfour January specimens from the type locality of the species.350 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. VI.]Sciurus hudsonicus grahamensis, subsp. nov.Similar to S. h. mogollonensis, but slightly yellower and less rufescent above,with the central area of the lower surface of the tail grayish white from thebase to the end of the vertebroe, and the base of the hairs of the middle area ofthe upper surface of the tail yellowish ochraceous, forming a prominent medianband of this color.Type, No. 9 0p , V ad., Graham Mountains, Arizona, August i8, 1894; Priceand Condit (Price Collection). Total length, 330; tail vertebroe, 132; hindfoot, 53 ; ear, 28.The three adult specimens from the Graham Mountains, on which this newform is based, measure as follows:SEX. Total Length. rail Vertebra. Hind Foot. Ear........ ....... 325 130 57 28.............. 340 140 56 27. 330 132 53 28A few specimens from the San Francisco and White Mountainsshow a slight tendency to a grayish median area along the lowersurface of the tail, but it is niever so pronounced and conspicuousas in the specimens from the Graham Mountains. In true S. h.mogollonensis the basal portion of the hairs of the upper stirface ofthe tail are more or less fulvous, but as a rule it is not at all pro-nounced, whereas in the Graham Mountains specimens it is aconspicuous feature.While S. h. grahamensis is apparently not a very strongly dif-ferentiated form it seems to well warrant recognition, especiallywhen considered in relation to its fairly isolated habitat. Whilethe White Mountains form merely the eastern end of the elevatedpine plateau' extending westward to the San Francisco Mountains,the Graham Mountains are south of the plateau region, fromwhich they are separated by a comparatively low arid plain. Mr.Price (in letter of Oct. 129 i894) writes: " Finding Sciurushudisonius var. ? in the Graham Mountains was interesting. Itcould not possibly have come in recent times from the WhiteMountains, as the dry desert of the Gila River lies between. TheGraham Mountains rise abruptly from the plain to about io,500feet above sea level, and are very isolated."

New North American mammals

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