The names of the Rocky Mountain goats

Vol.

XXV,

pp. 185-188 December24, 1912

PROCEEDINGS

OFTHE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

GENERAL NOTES.

A

NEW NAME ^FOR TANAGRA SCLATERI BERLEPSCH.

Dr. ('.

W. Richmond

(Proc. U. S. Nat. Mas., 35, No. _1656, Dec. _16, L908, 644) lias

shown

that Tanagra ^Linnaeus can not ho used for the birds that have _usuallybeen _placed in this genus, but that Thraupis Boie willhave tobe used.

He

lixesthe type ^of

Tanagra upon

Fringilla riolacea Linn., therefore Tanagra ^sclaterl Berlepsch^(Ibis, 1880, 112) be- comes untenable on accountof

Tanagra

^{sclaterl (}

Euphonia

^sclaterlSun-

devall, Oefv. Vet. Ak. Forh. Stockh., 1869, 596),

and

the bird described by von Berlepsch under the above

name may

^{be called} Thraupis epis=

copus

nesophilus.

—

/.

H.

_Riley.

THE NAMES OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOATS.

The

specific

name

_{montanus, applied} to the

Rocky Mountain Goat

(Ovis montanus Ord, 1815), ^is preoccupied by ^Oris

montana

_Schreber, DieSaugthiere, plate294 D, published, according^to Sherborn(P. Z. S., 1891, p. 587), in 1804;

and

_by Ovis

montana

_{Tiedemann, Zoologie, I, p.}

404, 1808,both

synonyms

^of Ovis canadensis

Shaw and

Ovis cervinaDes- marest, ^1804.

The

earliest available

name

for the

Mountain Goat

is

R

_uplcapraamericana Blainville, 1816.

Though

^{described from}

"North

America," ^it

may

properlybe restrictedtothefirstrecognized form, long

known

as Oreamnos montanus, inhabiting the Cascade Mountains, and the nearby ranges. Blainville, in his preliminary arrangement ^{of the} ungulates, divided ^his comprehensive genus Cerophorus ^into

what

he called sub-genera,^ofwhich Rupicapra, ^{with threespecies,}including

"A.

americana"*

is one; but in his diagnoses ^of

new

_specieswhich follows he firstcharacterized the goatunder the combination Rupicapra ^ameri- cana.

The name

_applied tooneof the two_suhspeciesof Oreamnos montanus described by ^{Dr. J. A. Allen} in 1004, 0. m. columbianus (Bull.

Amer.

Mus. ^Nat. Hist.,

XX,

p. 20), ^ispreoccupiedby ^the

Capra

^columbianaof Desmoulins,1823, a

synonym

^{of Ovismontanus Ord.}

On my

callingDr.

*Not Antilope americana Ord,^{as stated} byPalmer, Index Gen.Mamm.,p.613; but

a tinmen nudum, reallyreferring to theanimalhe laterdiagnosed underthe name Rupicapra americana,^theRocky Mountain^Goat.

30—Pkoc.Biol. Soc.Wash..Vol.XXV,1912. (185)

186

General Notes.

Allen's attention to this fact, he has suggested that ^I

rename

his race,

and

Itherefore propose ^forit the

name

Oreamnos americanus columbise.

The Rocky

^Mountain Goats, with the exception ^of Oreamnos _kennedeyi

Elliot, will stand thenas follows:

Oreamnos americanus americanus

(Blainville).

L815. Ovismontanus Ord, ^Guthrie'sgeogr., 2d

Amer.

ed.,II, p.292(not Oris

montana Schreber

1S04; not Ovis

montana Tiedemann

1808).

islti. R[upicapra] americana Blainville, ^{Bull. sci. soc.}philom. ^Paris, p. 80. (North America.⁾

1S17.

Mazama

dorsataRafinesque,

Amer. monthly

mag.,II, p.44 ⁽new

name

forOvis montanus Ord).

1s17.

Mazama

sericea Rafinesque,

Amer.

monthly mag., ^II,p.44(new-

name

forRupicapra americana Blainville).

1822. Antilope lanigera Smith, Trans. Linn, soc., XIII, p. 3S

(new name

forRupicapra americana Blainville).

1823.

Capra

columbiana Desmoulins, ^Diet, class, hist, nat., Ill, p. 580

(new name

forOvis montanus Ord).

Oreamnos americanus

missoulae Allen.

1904. Oreamnos montanus missouhr Allen, ^Bull.

Amer.

mus. ^nat. liist.,

XX,

p. 20. (Missoula, .Montana.)

Oreamnos ^americanus

^columbiae

^new

^name.

1904. Oreamnos montanus coiumbianus Allen, ^Bull.

Amer.

mus. nat.

hist.,

XX,

p. 20 (Shesley Mountains, northern ^British

Colum-

bia; not

Capra

^columbiana Des.moi.ixs182.° )).

As

we must

^{date Oris}

montana

from Schreber _1804, instead of from Cuvier1817,the

name

requires consideration,withcanadensisand cervina, inthe next contribution ^to the nomenclature of the

Rocky Mountain

Sheep.

—

-V. Hollister.

THE TYPE LOCALITY OF PROECHIMYS STEEREI GOLDMAN.

When

^the_original description^ofProechimys^steerei

Goldman

was pub- lished*the type ^locality

was

_given as "

Rio Purus, a southern tributary of the

Amazon,

ⁱⁿ northwestern Brazil," this being^atthattime the only data availablein regard ^to the specimens on which ^thespecies^is based.

A letterfrom Dr. J. B. Steere, the collector, bearing date ^of January^8, 1912, contains the additional information that the specimens ^all

came

from

Hyutanahan,

^{a small village ofrubbergatherers, on the north side}

of the Rio Purus, ⁱⁿ theupper^{partofitscourse.}

The

speciesseemed to

beabundant.

—E.

A. Goldman.

* Proc.I'.iol.Soc.Wash.,XXIV,pp. 238-239,Nov.28,1911.