North American Jumping Mice (Genus Zapus)Krutzsch, Philip H. (Philip Henry)
Science
North American Jumping Mice (Genus Zapus)
Krutzsch, Philip H. (Philip Henry)
Zapus
_Description._--Size, small; back near Ochraceous-Buff, having black
hair interspersed; mid-dorsal band not always well marked; sides
Ochraceous-Buff with fine admixture of black hair; lateral line blending
with Ochraceous-Buff of sides, not distinct; ventral surface white to
base of hairs, in some cases lightly suffused with color of sides; tail
indistinctly bicolored, tan to grayish-white below and brown above; hind
feet grayish-white above; ears brownish, narrowly edged with
Ochraceous-Buff; skull small; antorbital foramina relatively large;
interorbital region broad; inferior ramus of the zygomatic process of
the maxillary broad, often with medial projection; incisive foramina
narrow posteriorly becoming broadly rounded anteriorly; palatal bridge
relatively long; pterygoid fossae narrow; zygomatic arches relatively
robust; nasals tapering at each end.
_Comparisons._--From _Zapus princeps princeps_, _Z, p. luteus_ differs
as follows: Size, smaller; color lighter, more Ochraceous-Buff; ears
lighter, edged with Ochraceous-Buff as compared with white or
yellowish-white; lateral line indistinct or wanting as opposed to
distinct; dorsal stripe not well defined; interorbital region broader;
antorbital foramina relatively larger; zygomatic arches more robust;
nasals tapering at each end as opposed to parallel sided; auditory
bullae smaller, less inflated.
_Remarks._--The characters of this subspecies are relatively stable
throughout most of its geographic range. Hall and Davis (1934:56)
remarked that their material from the White Mountains of Arizona
answered precisely to Miller's original description (1911:253) of the
species, and my examination of these and other specimens from that area
indicates the same thing except that the specimens average slightly
darker mid-dorsally than those from New Mexico.
_Zapus luteus australis_, based on a single individual taken in a
riparian thicket along the Rio Grande at Socorro, New Mexico, is
referable to _Z. p. luteus_. The diagnostic characters, referred to in
the original description, are as follows: Small, slender, and very
narrow skull; especially narrow braincase; slender rostrum; and light
dentition. These are expressions of age, rather than of geographic
variation, in that the individual is a subadult (young of the year). The
color, which is paler than in adults of _Z. p. luteus_, is almost
identical with that of a subadult (No. 205585 USBS) from Alpine,
Arizona. I can see no basis for recognition of _Z. p. australis_ and the
name, therefore, is placed as a synonym of _Z. p. luteus_.
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