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
In his discussion of the pocket gophers of Baja California, Huey (Trans.
San Diego Soc. Nat. Hist., 10:245-268, map, August 31, 1945) made no
mention of specimens from Ensenada, Baja California, recorded by Bailey
(N. Amer. Fauna, 39:58, November 15, 1915) as _Thomomys bottae
nigricans_. We have examined the specimens from Ensenada available to
Bailey in the U. S. Biological Surveys Collection, Nos. 137724, 139890,
and 139891, subadult, immature, and adult, respectively. As compared
with _Thomomys bottae sanctidiegi_ from the mouth of the Tiajuana River
(No. 126028) and _T. b. nigricans_ (topotypes), the one adult specimen
from Ensenada agrees with _T. b. sanctidiegi_ and differs from _T. b.
nigricans_ in lighter color, larger and more angular skull, and more
inflated braincase. The specimens from Ensenada differ from the adjacent
subspecies to the south, _Thomomys bottae proximarinus_ [to judge from
Huey's (_op. cit._) characterization of that subspecies] in lighter
color, and larger, more robust skull. Accordingly, the specimens from
Ensenada are referred to _Thomomys bottae sanctidiegi_.
~Thomomys bottae siccovallis~ Huey
Bailey (N. Amer. Fauna, 39:58, November 15, 1915) listed a specimen from
Mattomi, Baja California, as _Thomomys bottae nigricans_. When Huey
(Trans. San Diego Soc. Nat. Hist., 10:259, August 31, 1945) revived the
name _Thomomys_ [_bottae_] _aphrastus_ Elliot, and named (_op.
cit._:258) _Thomomys bottae siccovallis_ he made no mention of the
specimen, from Mattomi, which, on geographic grounds, would be expected
to be _T. b. aphrastus_, _T. b. martirensis_ J. A. Allen, or _T. b.
siccovallis_. We have examined an adult male (10832 CNHM), probably the
specimen seen by Bailey (_loc. cit._), from Mattomi, and have compared
No. 10832 with six topotypes (10813-10816, 10819 and 10820 CNHM) of _T.
b. martirensis_, the type and one topotype (10798 CNHM) of _T. b.
aphrastus_ and with the original description of _T. b. siccovallis_. The
specimen from Mattomi seems to be unique in the large size of the
tympanic bullae. The specimen in question differs from _T. b.
martirensis_ also in shorter and wider skull, shorter and wider rostrum,
and longer and wider molariform teeth. In these features resemblance is
shown to the holotype of _T. b. aphrastus_ and even greater resemblance
is shown to _T. b. siccovallis_ to which the specimen from Mattomi is
referred.
~Thomomys monticola mazama~ Merriam
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account