Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American Rodents — John Shaqi
Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American RodentsHall, E. Raymond (Eugene Raymond)
Science
Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American Rodents
Hall, E. Raymond (Eugene Raymond)
Mammals -- North America; Rodents
Six specimens (21249-21253, 212706 BS) from Rice, Arizona, were referred
by Goldman (Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 46:76, April 27, 1933) to the
subspecies _Thomomys bottae mutabilis_ Goldman when he proposed that
name as new, but these six specimens were not mentioned by him when he
later named _Thomomys bottae alienus_ (Jour. Washington Acad. Sci.,
28:338, July 15, 1938), to which subspecies the specimens in question
might be expected to belong. Examination of the six specimens reveals
that they are intergrades between _T. b. mutabilis_ and _T. b. alienus_
but that the specimens more closely resemble the latter. More precisely,
slightly larger size of skull, greater ventral inflation of tympanic
bullae, and less depressed occipital region ally the specimens with
_Thomomys bottae alienus_, and we identify them as that subspecies. The
two subspecies concerned are not so distinct as are most subspecies of
_Thomomys bottae_.
~Thomomys bottae aphrastus~ Elliott
Bailey (N. Amer. Fauna, 39:58, November 15, 1915) referred three
specimens from San Antonio, Baja California, to _Thomomys bottae
nigricans_. These specimens have not, to our knowledge, been re-examined
subsequently, although the current taxonomic treatment of the pocket
gophers of Baja California by Huey (Trans. San Diego Soc. Nat. Hist.,
10(4):245-268, 1 map, August 31, 1945) excludes _T. b. nigricans_ from
the area of San Antonio. The pertinent specimens are probably Nos.
10810-10812 in the Chicago Natural History Museum. We have examined the
specimens and, using the comparative materials listed under the account
of _T. b. siccovallis_, find them to be intermediate in most characters
between _T. b. aphrastus_ and _T. b. martirensis_. Because they more
nearly resemble _T. b. aphrastus_ in the weakly-spreading zygomatic
arches, we refer the specimens from San Antonio to that subspecies.
~Thomomys bottae jojobae~ Huey
When Huey (Trans. San Diego Soc. Nat. Hist., 10:256, August 31, 1945)
named _Thomomys bottae jojobae_ from Sangre de Cristo, Baja California,
Mexico, he made no mention of a specimen that Bailey (N. Amer. Fauna,
39:58, November 15, 1915) identified as _Thomomys bottae nigricans_ from
La Huerta, which place is approximately eight miles northwest of Sangre
de Cristo. From a geographic standpoint, it seemed unlikely that the
specimen from La Huerta would be referable to _T. b. nigricans_.
Examination of the specimen (138752 BS) proves it to differ from
topotypes of _T. b. nigricans_ and to agree with _T. b. jojobae_ in
richer, more rufescent color, especially ventrally, and smaller,
slenderer, more delicate skull. The specimen is therefore tentatively
referred to _Thomomys bottae jojobae_. We have not, however, compared it
with specimens of _Thomomys bottae juarezensis_, a subspecies the range
of which lies to the east on the summit of the Sierra Juarez.
~Thomomys bottae martirensis~ J. A. Allen
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