Pleistocene Pocket Gophers From San Josecito Cave, Nuevo Leon, MexicoRussell, Robert J.
Science
Pleistocene Pocket Gophers From San Josecito Cave, Nuevo Leon, Mexico
Russell, Robert J.
Pocket gophers, Fossil
Cushing's (1945:182-185) report on his study of the rodents and
lagomorphs includes a description of an extinct pygmy species of rabbit,
_Sylvilagus leonensis_. He records three kinds of pocket gophers from
San Josecito; Cushing was able to separate the genus Thomomys from two
unidentified geomyids (_loc. cit._:185). These prove to belong to the
genera _Cratogeomys_ and _Heterogeomys_; the materials are described
below. Cushing records also larger mammals, including the antilocaprid
(_Stockoceros conklingi_), saber-toothed cat (_Smilodon_), dire wolf
(_Aenocyon_), a large oviboid (_Preptoceras_), and deer (_loc.
cit._:182).
More recently Findley (1953:633-639) has written on the remains of the
family Soricidae taken from the cave, and Hooper (1952:59) has studied
the bones of the genus _Reithrodontomys_ and found them not different
from those of _R. megalotis_ that inhabits the region of the cave today.
Handley (1955:48) has described a new species of plecotine bat,
_Corynorhinus tetralophodon_, from the collection. Jones (1958:389-396)
published an account of the bats of San Josecito, and described a new
vampire bat, _Desmodus stocki_, from the cave. Jakway (1958:313-327) has
reported on the lagomorphs and rodents in detail, and compared this part
of the cave fauna with that of Rancho La Brea and Papago Spring Cave,
Arizona. Jakway (_lit. cit._:323-324) suggests that the fauna from San
Josecito is late Pleistocene, probably contemporaneous with the remains
from Papago Spring Cave and pre-Rancholabrean.
I thank Professor E. Raymond Hall and Dr. Robert W. Wilson for
their permission to examine this material and for critical comments
and advice on the manuscript. The drawings were made by Miss Lucy
Remple. The specimens are a part of the collection of fossil
vertebrates formerly belonging to the California Institute of
Technology, but now the property of the Los Angeles County Museum.
The specimens had been lent by the late Professor Chester Stock to
Professor Hall and Dr. Wilson for study and report. All
measurements herein are in millimeters.
#Thomomys umbrinus# (Richardson)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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