Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American Marsupials, Insectivores and Carnivores BY E. RAYMOND HALL and KEITH R. KELSON University of Kansas Publications Museum of Natural History Volume 5, No. 25, pp. 319-341 December 5, 1952 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS LAWRENCE 1952 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, A. Byron Leonard, Edward H. Taylor, Robert W. Wilson Volume 5, No. 25, pp. 319-341 December 5, 1952 UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Lawrence, Kansas PRINTED BY FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER TOPEKA, KANSAS 1952 Transcriber's Note: Words and phrases printed in bold are marked with ~; i.e., ~This is bold.~ Comments on the Taxonomy and Geographic Distribution of Some North American Marsupials, Insectivores and Carnivores BY E. RAYMOND HALL and KEITH R. KELSON In preparing maps showing the geographic distribution of North American mammals we have found in the literature conflicting statements and questionable identifications, which have led us to examine the specimens concerned with results as set forth below. Our studies have been aided by a contract (NR 161-791) between the Office of Naval Research, Department of the Navy, and the University of Kansas. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the persons in charge of the several collections of mammals consulted for permission to examine and study the specimens therein. ~Didelphis marsupialis californica~ Bennett From Cuernavaca, Morelos, Hooper (Jour. Mamm., 28:43, February 1, 1947) lists a specimen, as he says, on purely geographic grounds, as of the subspecies _Didelphis mesamericana tabascensis_. We have examined this specimen, an unsexed skull-only, which falls within the range of individual variation of _Didelphis marsupialis californica_ and refer the specimen to that subspecies. ~Didelphis marsupialis etensis~ J. A. Allen From El Muñeco, Costa Rica, Harris (Occas. Papers, Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan, no. 476:7, October 8, 1943) lists as _Didelphis richmondi_ a specimen ([Male], No. 67550 U.M.). Our examination of the specimen shows it to be within the range of individual variation of populations that have been referred to _D. m. etensis_ from adjoining areas. We identify the specimen as _Didelphis marsupialis etensis_. ~Didelphis marsupialis tabascensis~ J. A. Allen