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, large; back from Cinnamon-Buff to Warm Buff
overlaid with black hairs; sides lighter with less admixture of black
hairs; lateral line indistinct, sometimes wanting; tail bicolored,
brownish-black above, white to yellowish-white beneath; feet
grayish-white above; ventral surface white to base of hairs; ears dark,
edged with white to yellowish-white; skull large; palatal bridge
relatively short; upper tooth-rows diverging anteriorly; occipitonasal
length great; interorbital region broad; zygomata widely bowed;
postpalatal notch anterior to posterior face of last molars; mastoid
width great.
_Comparisons._--From _Zapus princeps princeps_, _Z. p. utahensis_
differs in: color dorsally and laterally less ochraceous, lacking broad
lateral line; skull larger in every part measured, excepting length of
palatal bridge and breadth of palate at M3; zygomata more bowed; upper
tooth-rows more divergent anteriorly; postpalatal notch anterior to
posterior border of last molars.
Compared with _Zapus princeps cinereus_, _Z. p. utahensis_ differs as
follows: Size averaging larger; upper parts darker, Cinnamon-Buff not
Pinkish-Buff; incisive foramina wider posteriorly; palate wider;
zygomata more robust.
For comparison with _Zapus princeps idahoensis_ see account of that
subspecies.
_Remarks._--_Zapus princeps utahensis_ most closely resembles the
several subspecies in the Great Basin in its large size, widely bowed
zygomata, and posteriorly broadened incisive foramina. Intergradation
between _Z. p. utahensis_ and _Zapus princeps cinereus_, geographically
the nearest of the Great Basin subspecies, is not known. Intergradation
in color and cranial characters occurs between _Zapus princeps
idahoensis_ and _Z. p. utahensis_ in specimens from 17 mi. E and 4 mi. N
of Ashton, Idaho. All these specimens are, however, referable to _Z. p.
idahoensis_. Animals from 9 mi. SE Irwin and from 3 mi. SW Victor,
Idaho, resemble _Z. p. utahensis_ in most differential characters
(dorsally ochraceous, lateral line more distinct, incisive foramina
large, palate broad anteriorly, auditory bullae less inflated), and are
here referred to _Z. p. utahensis_. A series of specimens from the head
of Crow Creek, Idaho, were considered by Davis (1939:340) to be
intergrades between _Z. p. idahoensis_ and _Z. p. utahensis_; he thought
that the specimens were more nearly like _Z. p. utahensis_ in color, but
cranially (80 per cent in average ratio of anterior width of palate to
posterior width of palate), more nearly like _Z. p. idahoensis_, to
which subspecies he referred them. I have examined these specimens and
find them to be more nearly like _Z. p. utahensis_ not only in color but
in cranial characters as well. For example, the average ratio obtained
by me for anterior width of palate to posterior width of palate is 72
per cent, rather than 80 per cent as given by Davis (_loc. cit._). Other
cranial characters, size of the incisive foramina, shape of the foramen
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