North American Jumping Mice (Genus Zapus)Krutzsch, Philip H. (Philip Henry)
Science
North American Jumping Mice (Genus Zapus)
Krutzsch, Philip H. (Philip Henry)
Zapus
_Remarks._--Preble (1899:16) had available for study five specimens of
_Zapus hudsonius hudsonius_ from Hudson Bay. Four were preserved in
alcohol and one as an incomplete skin (prepared from an alcoholic
specimen). All were unreliable for comparative purposes owing to the
effects of the preservative. Preble, therefore, (_loc. cit._) selected
as a fairly typical sample a series of specimens from Tower, St. Louis
County, Minnesota; these formed the basis of comparison between _Z. h.
hudsonius_ and other subspecies of _Zapus hudsonius_. Now that
additional material (well prepared skins and skulls) is available from
the Hudson Bay region and from other localities in northern and western
Canada it is evident that the specimens from Tower, although here
considered to be _Z. h. hudsonius_, are not typical _Z. h. hudsonius_
but are intergrades between _hudsonius_ and specimens of _Zapus
hudsonius intermedius_. Comparisons made in the present account are
based on specimens from the vicinity of Hudson Bay (Fort Severen,
Ontario, York Factory, Shamatawa River, and Robinson Portage, Manitoba).
These individuals are considered typical of this subspecies. With these
new data available the range of _Z. h. hudsonius_ is now understood to
include all of the region from eastern Alaska to the northern parts of
Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
Intergradation between _Zapus hudsonius canadensis_ and _Z. h.
hudsonius_ is noted in specimens from 30 mi. NE Port Arthur and also in
those from Silver Islet, Thunder Cape, Ontario. These individuals
resemble _Z. h. canadensis_ in size and shape of the auditory bullae and
in the shape of the nasals, but in their darker coloration, broadly
rounded incisive foramina, and relatively narrow pterygoid fossae they
are more nearly like _Z. h. hudsonius_ to which they are here referred.
Specimens from Minaki, Ontario, are tending toward _Zapus hudsonius
intermedius_ in lighter coloration but in the size and shape of the
auditory bulla, size and shape of the incisive foramina, and in the
width of the pterygoid fossae they are more nearly like _Z. h.
hudsonius_ to which they are here referred. Specimens from various
localities in Menominee County, Michigan, are like _Z. h. intermedius_
in shape of the incisive foramina and shape of the postpalatal notch,
but in color of pelage, size and shape of the auditory bullae, and
breadth of the pterygoid fossae they closely resemble _Z. h. hudsonius_.
In Wisconsin, intergradation occurs in color and in cranial characters
in specimens from Mercer, Solon Spring, and in a single individual from
Basswood Lake. All these specimens, however, are best referable to _Z.
h. hudsonius_.
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