Subspeciation in the Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys ordii: KU. Vol 1 No 23Setzer, Henry W.
Science
Subspeciation in the Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys ordii: KU. Vol 1 No 23
Setzer, Henry W.
Kangaroo rats
_Diagnosis._--Size large (see measurements); hind foot short.
Color dark; entire dorsal surface, near (_c_) Cinnamon-Buff,
purest on sides and flanks, with moderate suffusion of black on
upper parts; cheeks white; arietiform markings, pinnae of ears,
plantar surfaces of hind feet, dorsal and ventral stripes of tail,
brownish. Skull large; frontomaxillary suture convex mediad;
lacrimal process large; styloid process projects, on ventral
surface of tympanic bulla, beyond middle of external auditory
meatus; nasals flared distally.
_Comparisons._--From _Dipodomys ordii priscus_, _D. o. uintensis_
differs in: Hind foot shorter; color darker; styloid process
projects on ventral part of tympanic bulla well anterior to middle
of external auditory meatus as opposed to projecting to middle;
depth of foramen magnum, expressed in percentage of width across
posterior margin of occipital condyles, greater (86 per cent in
_D. o. uintensis_ and 81 per cent in _D. o. priscus_);
frontomaxillary suture convex mediad as opposed to nearly
straight; lacrimal processes larger; nasals more flared distally.
From _Dipodomys ordii nexilis_, _D. o. uintensis_ differs as
follows: Size smaller; color lighter; interorbital breadth greater;
frontomaxillary suture convex mediad as opposed to concave;
lacrimal processes larger; nasals more flared distally; narrower
across auditory bullae; basal length greater; zygomatic arches
bowed laterad as opposed to relatively straight.
From _Dipodomys ordii longipes_, _D. o. uintensis_ differs as
follows: Size smaller; color darker; auditory bullae wider, longer
and deeper; frontomaxillary suture convex mediad as opposed to
nearly straight; greatest breadth across auditory bullae less.
For comparison with _Dipodomys ordii sanrafaeli_ see account of
that subspecies.
_Remarks._--This large, rather dark race inhabits the desert valleys
of the White, Green and Duchesne rivers in northeastern Utah. The
race nearest geographically, as well as morphologically, is _Dipodomys
ordii priscus_. Intergradation occurs with the latter subspecies
at Vernal, Uintah County, in cranial measurements and in color.
On the basis of color alone _D. o. uintensis_ can be distinguished from
_D. o. sanrafaeli_, the geographic race to the south. Specimens from
Jensen are intermediate in color and cranial measurements between
_Dipodomys ordii nexilis_ and _D. o. uintensis_ but are referable to the
latter.
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