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
Bailey (N. Amer. Fauna, 39:58, November 15, 1915) referred pocket
gophers from Pinon on the west slope of the San Pedro Martir Mountains,
Baja California, to the subspecies _Thomomys bottae nigricans_. The
subspecific identity of these animals has now been reinvestigated
subsequently, although the locality whence they were obtained is far
removed from what is now thought to be the geographic range of _T. b.
nigricans_; further, several other subspecies are known to occur in the
intervening area. We have examined the available material from Pinon
(13853-13855 BS) and find the specimens to agree with _Thomomys bottae
martirensis_ and to differ from _T. b. nigricans_ in lighter color,
larger, more ridged and angular skull; proportionately greater mastoidal
breadth; narrower occipital shelf; more ventrally produced alveolar
ramus of the maxillae; and deeply concave posterior border of the
temporal root of the zygomatic arch. These specimens thus constitute the
northernmost record of _T. b. martirensis_ known to us.
~Thomomys bottae mohavensis~ Grinnell
Bailey (N. Amer. Fauna, 39:73, November 15, 1915) assigned a series of 7
specimens from Lone Willow Spring, California, to the subspecies
_Thomomys bottae perpes_. This locality lies at the northern edge of the
Mohave Desert. Later, Grinnell (Univ. California Publ. Zool., 17:427,
April 25, 1918) named the pocket gophers from approximately the eastern
half of the Mohave Desert, _Thomomys perpallidus_ [= _bottae_]
_mohavensis_, but failed to mention the specimens recorded by Bailey,
and thus their subspecific identity is in doubt. We find that _T. b.
mohavensis_ differs from _T. b. perpes_ in more pallid color (light
yellowish as opposed to dark rufescent) larger size, larger and more
angular skull, angular (as opposed to more evenly bowed) zygomatic
arches, larger and deeper audital bullae, narrower interpterygoid space,
and proportionately greater mastoidal breadth. In external measurements,
size and angularity of skull, width of interpterygoid space and
angularity of the zygomatic arch, the specimens from Lone Willow Spring
seem to be intermediate between the two subspecies, but perhaps show
more resemblance to _T. b. mohavensis_. Otherwise, the specimens closely
resemble _T. b. mohavensis_ to which they are here referred. The
specimens provide a northern marginal record of occurrence for that
subspecies.
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