#Mephitis macroura macroura# Lichtenstein 1832. _Mephitis macroura_ Lichtenstein, Darstellung Saeugethier, pl. 46, with accompanying text, 1832. _Type locality._--Mountains northwest of the City of Mexico. _Range._--Southern half of Mexican Plateau and south to Guatemala. See figure 1. Marginal occurrences (all from Howell, N. Amer. Fauna, 20:41, 42, 1901) are: _Tamaulipas_: Jaumave. _Veracruz_: Las Vigas; Jico; Orizaba. _Puebla_: Tehuacan. _Guatemala_: Duenas (vicinity). _Oaxaca_: 15 mi. W Oaxaca. _Colima_: Hacienda Magdalena. _Jalisco_: San Sebastian. _Tepic_: Santa Teresa. _Zacatecas_: Valpariso. _Characters._--Skull of medium size (basal length, [Male] 56, [Female] 54); tail averaging shorter than head and body. #Mephitis macroura vittata# Lichtenstein 1832. _Mephitis vittata_ Lichtenstein, Darstellung Saeugethier, pl. 47, with accompanying text, 1832. 1901. _Mephitis macroura vittata_, Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 14:334, November 12, 1901. _Type locality._--"San Matteo el Mar" [= San Mateo del Mar], Oaxaca. _Range._--Known only from the type locality. See figure 1. _Characters._--Skull short ([Male] 54.6, [Female] 52.3); narrow across mastoid processes; tail long; body short. #Mephitis macroura eximius# new subspecies _Type._--Female, adult, skin with skull, No. 19272, Mus. Nat. Hist., Univ. Kansas; 15 kilometers west of Piedras Negras, 300 feet elevation, Veracruz, Mexico; 13 January 1947; obtained by J. Mazza and Walter W. Dalquest; original No. 7017, W. W. Dalquest. _Range._--From the vicinity of the type locality on the arid coastal plain of the lowlands of central Veracruz. See figure 1. _Diagnosis._--Size small (see measurements); tail long, ranging from 110 to 133 percent of length of head and body; color black, with white areas containing a few black hairs, and in non-hooded phase with white lateral stripes low on sides of body and in some specimens almost absent; skull small but broad across mastoid processes. _Comparisons._--From _Mephitis macroura macroura_ of the southern part of the Mexican Plateau, _M. m. eximius_ differs in shorter head and body, relatively (to body) longer tail, and smaller skull. From _Mephitis macroura vittata_ of the tropical lowlands of the Pacific slope of Oaxaca, _M. m. eximius_ differs in slightly larger average size throughout and relatively longer tail. [Illustration: FIG. 1. Map showing the geographic ranges of the four subspecies of the species _Mephitis macroura_.]