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._--Merriam (1897a:103) named this jumping mouse as a full
species, mentioning that the skull is similar in size and characters to
that of _Zapus hudsonius_ but that externally these animals differed in
coloration and length of the tail. Hall (1934:377) treated _Z. tenellus_
as a subspecies of _Z. hudsonius_. He observed that the difference
between _Z. tenellus_, _Z. h. alascensis_, and _Z. h. hudsonius_ was of
the same degree, and, even though intergrading material was not known to
him, he considered _tenellus_ only subspecifically distinct from _Z.
hudsonius_. Hall (_loc. cit._) tentatively referred to _Z. h. tenellus_
specimens from Indianpoint Lake, 15 mi. NE Barkerville, Cottonwood P.
O., and Hazelton, British Columbia. I have seen and compared with the
type of _Z. tenellus_ all specimens examined by Hall and agree with him
that they are best referred to _Z. h. tenellus_. Since 1934, several
additional localities in British Columbia have yielded specimens. Those
from Minaker River and Fort St. John are intermediate in dorsal
coloration and in size and shape of the auditory bullae between _Zapus
hudsonius hudsonius_ and _Z. h. tenellus_ but in all other characters
are most nearly like _Z. h. tenellus_ to which they are here assigned.
These intergrades constitute additional evidence that _Z. tenellus_ and
_Z. hudsonius_ are only subspecies of a single species.
_Specimens examined._--Total, 17, all from British Columbia, distributed
as follows: east side Minaker River, 1 mi. W Trutch, 1; Hazelton, 959
ft., 2 (MVZ); 5 mi. W and 3 mi. N Fort St. John, 1; _Indianpoint Lake,
15 mi. NE Barkerville_, 5 (MVZ); Cottonwood P. O., 3 (MVZ); S end Swan
Lake, Vernon, 1200 ft., 2 (MVZ); Kamloops, 3 (USBS).
_Marginal records._--British Columbia.--E side Minaker River, 1 mi. W
Trutch; 5 mi. W and 3 mi. N Fort St. John; S end Swan Lake, Vernon, 1200
ft.; Kamloops; Hazelton, 959 ft.
TABLE 5.--Cranial Measurements (in Millimeters) of Zapus.
Column headings:
Col. A: Number examined, [M][M] plus [F][F]
Col. B: Breadth of braincase
Col. C: Condylobasal length
Col. D: Interorbital breadth
Col. E: Mastoidal breadth
Col. F: Length of maxillary tooth-row
Col. G: Occipitonasal length
Col. H: Palatal length
Col. I: Zygomatic breadth
Col. J: Zygomatic length
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