BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

Vol. XXIV, pp. 101-102

May

^{15, 1911}

PROCEEDINGS

OFTilE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

NEW NAMES FOR TWO SUBSPECIES OF PEROMYSCUS MA NICULA TUS

⁽

W ^{AG N ER}

^).

BY EDGAR

A.

MEARNS.

Mr. Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., has

drawn my

^{attention to the fact}

that the

names

_{applied by}

me

to

two

forms of the genus Peromyscus, defined ⁱⁿ 1890, were preoccupied,

and

are there- fore not available.

The

name

_Hesperomysleucopus^arcticusMearns(1890)*must beconsid- eredaspreoccupiedby"

[Hesperomys]arcticus,Sauss."ofCoues1877,^tin accordancewith "opinion4," rendered bythe internationalcommission on_zoologicalnomenclature,* which^affirmsthat"manuscriptnames_acquire standingⁱⁿnomenclaturewhen_printed inconnection with the provisions ofArt. _'S>,§ andthe question as to their validity ^isnot influenced by^the factwhether such namesare accepted or rejected by^theauthor _respon- sible for theirpublication." Inthiscaseit isevident that theauthordid not intend to setuparcticus as the

name

^ofa validform, as, indeed, he expressly^stated thatheconsideredit toshow not theslightestdeparture from the ordinary form of leucopus. The

name

arcticus can not be regarded ^asanoma/ nudum, ^as Coues gave ^acomplete history, with no

less than _eight measurements of specimen No. ^:iu24. Moreover, ^{as the} animal from Labrador to which Coues attached the

name

arcticus, in 1877, ^is a synonym ^of Hesperomys maniculaius Wagner, ^{1845, the}

name

arcticusdisappearsfrom nomenclature|| and cannotbeusedforthedif- ferent form from Fort Simpson, Mackenzie, Canada, which ^Idescribed, in 1890, under the

name

_Hesperomys leucopus ^arcticus; for the latter I

now

_proposethe

name

borealis.

•Bull.Am.Mus. Nat.Hist.,N. V.II,1890. p. 285.

tMonogr.^N.Am.Rodentia,1877, p. 67 (in text) andp.61(where the nameismis- printed articus), table^xi,line^l (.Labrador).

tOpinions rendered bytheInternationalCommission onZoological Nomenclature.

Opinions^{1to 25,}publicationNo.1938of theSmithsonianInstitution, July,^1910.

§InternationalCodeofZoologicalNomenclature,1905, p. 23.

II"[Hesperomys] bairdii Sauss.",which Coues mentions ⁱⁿ thesame connection, also from Labrador, hasthesamestatus as arcticus; it being ayoungspecimen ^of Wagner's maniculatus (NotMusbairdiiHoy^{andKennicott,}1856)

21—Proc.Biol. Soc.Wash., Vol.XXIV,^1911. (101)

102

Mearns — _Names

_{forSubspecies ofPeromyscus}maniculatus.

Baird'sHesperomyssonoriensisnebrascensis*isanomen nudum,though

it isevidentfromacomparison ^ofthetextand synonymy^onpages⁴⁽³²and 474of his

Mammals

^ofNorth Americathathe atfirstintended todescribe thisraceasaformof sonoriensis, butthat, later, he changed^his opinion respecting^itsvalidity or possiblyomitteditthroughoversight; butCoues repeated thenamef,andreferred tospecimens from DeerCreek,Nebraska, givingmeasurements and^acriticalremark oncoloration. The

name

will thereforehavetodatefromCoues. ThisNebraskanformwasredescribed by Osgood^as Peromyscusluteus.i

The _Hesperomys leucopus nebrascensis Mearns§, from Calf Creek, CusterCounty,Montana,^issubspecifically distinctfrom Hesperomys ^sono- riensisv&r.nebrascensisCoues.from Deer_Creek,Nebraska,and asitmust

receivea new name, ^Ipropose osgoodi ^asasubspecificappellation.

The synonymy^{ofthe threeforms} involved standsasfollows:

Peromyscus

maniculatus borealis, newname.

ARCTIC DEERMOUSE.

Hesperomys ^{leucopusarcticus}Mearns, ^Bull.

Am.

Mus. Nat. Hist. N._Y.,

II, 1890,p. 285 (not of Coues). Fort Simpson, Hudson's Bay^Ter-

ritory, September^{7th, R. Kennicott.}

Peromysriix maniculatus ^arcticus Osgood, ^N.

Am.

_{Fauna, No. 10, 1000,}

p. 33.

Peromyscus

maniculatus nebrascensis _(Coues).

NEBRASKA

DEER

MOUSE.

ILsperomys sonoriensis var. nebrascensis Baird, Mamni. N. Am., 1857, p. 402 (noun,^{i a}winin).

Hesperomyssonoricnsisxav. nebrascensis⁽!oues,Monogr. N.

Am.

_Rodentia,

1877, p. 70,synonymyunder Hesperomys leucopus sonoriensis, p. 28 (criticalremark oncoloration),p.80 (mentions specimens from Deer Creek, Nebraska).

Peromyscus nebrascensis ofauthors (not^ofMearns).

Peromyscus ^1ulcus Osgood, ^{Proc. Biol. Soc.} Washington, XVIII, 1005, p. 78 (Kennedy, Nebraska^i.

Peromyscus maniculatus ^luteus Osgood, N.

Am.

_{Fauna, No.} 28, 1909, p. 77.

Peromyscus

maniculatus osgoodi, new name.

BLACK-EARED DEERMOUSE.

Hesperomys leucopus nebrascensis Mearns, ^Bull.

Am.

Mus. Nat. _Hist., N. Y. 1800, p. 285 (not Hesperomys sonoriensis var. nebrascensis Coues, 1877). Calf Creek, CusterCounty, Montana.

Peromyscustexanus nebrascensisAllen, ^Bull.

Am.

Mus.Nat._Mist., N. Y., VIII,^180(5, p. 251 _(part).

Peromyscus maniculatus nebrascensis Osgood, ^N.

Am.

_{Fauna, No.} 28, L909, p. 75 (based on Mearns).

*Maimn.N.Am..^ls.",7.p. 462.

IMonogr.^X.Am.Rodentia.1*77,pp.28,^7;iandso.

IProc. Biol. Soc.Washington.1905, p. 7s(Kennedy, Nebraska).

§Bull.Am.Mus. Nat.Hist.,N.Y.,1890, p. 285.