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
Bailey (N. Amer. Fauna, 39:102, November 15, 1915) identified as
_Thomomys talpoides bullatus_ an adult male (147347 BS) from the J. K.
Ranch, 5900 ft., on Meadow Creek, Wind River, Wyoming [= Wind River of
Bailey, _loc. cit._] and a young female (168666 BS) from Sage Creek, 8
mi. NW Fort Washakie, Wyoming. The rosaceous tone of these pale
individuals is more as in some populations of _T. t. ocius_ and _T. t.
clusius_ to the southward. Also, the skull of the male, although large,
is distinctly narrower than in _T. t. bullatus_ and we think shows the
influence of the _T. t. tenellus_ stock. All features considered, we
refer the specimens to _T. t. clusius_.
~Thomomys talpoides glacialis~ Dalquest and Scheffer
Vernon Bailey (N. Amer. Fauna, 39:119, November 15, 1915) listed 19
specimens from Roy, Washington, as _Thomomys douglasi yelmensis_
Merriam. Our examination of 26 specimens (205039-205051, 205072-205077,
and 206545-206551 BS) labeled as "Roy," and presumably including those
listed by Bailey (_loc. cit._), leads us to identify all 26 as _Thomomys
talpoides glacialis_ on the basis of widely spreading zygomatic arches
and decidedly ochraceous hue of underparts.
~Geomys bursarius jugossicularis~ Hooper
Seven skins with skulls (35104/47369-35110/47375 BS) from Las Animas,
Colorado, probably formed the basis for Cary's (N. Amer. Fauna, 33:129,
August 17, 1911) record of _Geomys lutescens_ from that locality.
Comparison of the material reveals that the animals are referable
instead to the later named subspecies, _Geomys lutescens jugossicularis_
Hooper (Occas. Papers Mus. Zool., Univ. Michigan, 420:1, June 28, 1940),
on the basis of (1) more reddish color, (2) deeper zygomatic plate, (3)
shorter jugal as expressed as a percentage of the length of the part of
the zygomatic arch anterior to the jugal, and (4) larger area of inner
face of jugal exposed when skull is viewed from directly above. Possibly
it is noteworthy that the specimens from Las Animas are larger than
Hooper's holotype and one topotype; this larger size is indicative of
intergradation with _G. b. lutescens_ as represented by the specimens
examined by us from Pueblo.
Our examination of an adult female, No. 128242 BS and a juvenal female,
No. 128243 BS, from 15 mi. E Texline, Texas, recorded by Bailey (N.
Amer. Fauna, 25:132, October 24, 1905) under the name _Geomys lutescens_
reveals that the specimens are referable to _Geomys bursarius
jugossicularis_ instead of to _Geomys bursarius major_ on the basis of
(1) mastoid part of tympanic bulla more inflated posteriorly, (2)
narrowness of frontals between posterior tongues of the premaxillae and,
(3) lighter color.
~Liomys irroratus irroratus~ Gray
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