Descriptions of two new subspecies of North American mammals

Vol. XX, ^pp. 87-88 December 11, 1907

PROCEEDINGS

OFTHE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

DESCRIPTIONS OF TWO NEW SUBSPECIES OF NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS.

BY

E.

W. NELSON.

I

am

indebted to the courtesy ^{of ISIr.} Oiitram Bangs, Curator of

Mammals, Museum

of

Comparative

Zoology, ^forthe oppor- tunity ^to describe the

snowshoe

rabbit

named

below.

The

squirVel ^isa further illustration of the extraordinary^variation in

Mexico

in thegenus ^Sciurus.

Lepus bairdi cascadensis subsp. nov.

CASCADE

MOUNTAIN SNOWSHOE

RABBIT.

Type from Roab's Ranch, near Hope, ^British Columbia,Canada, No.

1886,adultc?,

Museum

ofComparative Zoology^{; collected}by

W.

^C. Colt,

June12, 1894.

Geographic distribution.

—

_{Cascade Mountains of southern British Co-}

lumbia from the vicinity of

Hope

^on Eraser River, south along ^theeast side ofthemountainsat least tocentralWashington.

Suhspecijiccliaracters.

—

_Colorofuiiperpartsmostlike bairdi,butdarker and moreofaduskyreddish-cinnamon brownwiththe _largestandmost stronglymarked blackish

rump

patch ^of any ^{of the snowshoe rabbits;} headdarkreddish cinnamon,contrastingwith thedarkerormore_dusky body; ears long^asin bairdi; skull

much

hkethatof L. a. columbiensis.

Remarks.

—

_Thisform becomeswliite inwinter.

Sciurus socialis littoralis subsp. nov.

PORT AN(4ELSQUIRREL.

Type from PuertoAngel, Oaxaca, Mexico, No. 71,.S22, adult $,U. S.

National

Museum

(Biological Survey Collection); ^collected by ^E.

W.

Nelson andE. A. Goldman, March 11, 1895.

Geographicdistribution.

—

Coastalhillsofsouthern Oaxacanear Puerto Angel.

General characters.

—

Generally similarto S. socialis but_upperpartsof

bodyincluding^taildistinctlymorewhitishwhile the nape patchaverages darker rufous; ^tailwith abroad band of dark, ^richrufous along ^entire lengthnexttheskinand_showingconsiMcuouslyalong middle^ofunderside;

20—Proc. Biol. Soc. wash.,Vol. XX, ^1907. (87)

88 Nelson

— _{Two New}

SubspeciesofNorth

American Mammals.

on upper^{side oftail}the rufous heavily overlaidby^azoneofblackand^latter coveredbya strong outer wash of whitish; tail averaging broader and more _{bushy than} in socialis; underparts ^of body and ^underside of legs deep, ^rich rufous; base of ears behind with a _bright patch ^{of wliite;} a forwardextensionofnape patch^surrour-dsthe eyes; top^ofheadinfront of napepatch darkerand moreirongray than back^; cheeks and under side ofheadwhitish.

ShdL —

_{Similartothatofsocialipi.}

Measurements _{of ti/pe.}

—

_{Total length,}

52(); tail vertebne, 27o; hind foot, 69.

Remarks.

—

The _present form ^is based on a series ofseven specimens, allfrf)mthe type locality. So

many

squirrels have been described from Mexicothatit

may

appear superfluous^to

name

another. However, ^the l^resent seriesagree^souniformly ^{in their}

much

_paler colors

when

com- pared with the large series of typical socialis in the Survey ^collection that they evidently represent awell-marked local form. Theabsenceof a_rrnn])patch^atoncedistinguishesthemfromcocoswhichreachesa point on the coastof Oaxaca not far tothenorthward. Tothe southsocialis occupies the coastcountry about Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, while ^aspecimen collected inthemountainshalfa day'sjourney on horsebackdirectly in- land from Puerto Angel ^is evidently referable to socialis. This leaves littoraliswith a restricted distribution. It is an intergrading formbe- tweencocosandsocialisand_nearlyaspale^asthe former,^l)uthaslostthe rufous

rump

patchcharacterizing that subspecies.