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UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Volume 14, No. 12, pp. 145-159, 1 fig. in text
May 18, 1962
Noteworthy Mammals from Sinaloa, Mexico
J. KNOX JONES, JR., TICUL ALVAREZ, AND M. RAYMOND LEE
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
LAWRENCE
1962
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, Henry S. Fitch,
Theodore H. Eaton, Jr.
Volume 14, No. 12, pp. 145-159, 1 fig. in text
Published May 18, 1962
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Lawrence, Kansas
PRINTED BY
JEAN M. NEIBARGER, STATE PRINTER
TOPEKA, KANSAS
1962
29-3000
Noteworthy Mammals from Sinaloa, Mexico
BY
J. KNOX JONES, JR., TICUL ALVAREZ, and M. RAYMOND LEE
In several of the past twelve years field parties from the Museum of
Natural History have collected mammals in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.
Most of the collections contained only a modest number of specimens
because they were made by groups that stopped for short periods on their
way to or from other areas, but several collections are extensive. Field
work by representatives of this institution now is underway in Sinaloa
with the aim of acquiring materials suitable for treating the entire
mammalian fauna of that state.
Among the mammals thus far obtained are specimens of twenty species that
represent significant extensions of known range, are of especial
taxonomic or zoogeographic interest, or that complement published
information, and it is these records that are reported herein.
The following persons obtained specimens mentioned beyond: J. R. Alcorn
(1950); J. R. and A. A. Alcorn (1954 and 1955); R. H. Baker and a party
of students (1955); W. L. Cutter (1957); S. Anderson and a party of
students (1959); M. R. Lee (1960 and 1961); and J. K. Jones, Jr.,
accompanied by R. R. Patterson and R. G. Webb (1961). The Kansas
University Endowment Association and the American Heart Association
provided funds that helped to defray the cost of field operations.
In the accounts that follow, all measurements are in millimeters and all
catalogue numbers refer to the mammal collection of the Museum of
Natural History, The University of Kansas. Placenames associated with
specimens examined are indicated on the accompanying map (Fig. 1).
_Notiosorex crawfordi_ (Coues).--A non-pregnant female (75184) was
obtained on November 29, 1957, at El Fuerte by W. L. Cutter. Comparison
of this specimen with topotypes of _N. evotis_ (see below) and with
undoubted examples of _N. crawfordi_ proves our specimen to be referable
to the latter. We presume that the shrew reported as _evotis_ on
geographic grounds from El Carrizo by Hooper (1961:120) also is
referable to _crawfordi_. External measurements of our female are: total
length, 77; length of tail, 20 (tip missing); length of hind foot, 11;
length of ear from notch, 8; weight in grams, 4. Cranial measurements of
this individual are given in Table 1.
[Illustration: FIG. 1. Map of Sinaloa on which are plotted symbols
representing placenames mentioned in text. From north to south, these
are: El Fuerte; San Miguel; Los Mochis; Guamúchil; Terrero; Pericos;
Culiacán; El Dorado; Piaxtla and Camino Reál (one symbol); Pánuco;
Mazatlán; Matatán; Rosario; Escuinapa; Concepción.]
_Notiosorex evotis_ (Coues).--Four topotypes (85533-36), all males, were
collected by Lee at Mazatlán. One was caught on December 17, 1960, in a
museum special trap set "in low weeds near thorn bush" in a sandy field
at the north edge of Mazatlán, less than a mile from the ocean. A few
trees and some grasses grew in this area; _Mus musculus_ and
_Perognathus pernix_ were taken in the same line of traps. Additional
trapping at this locality failed to produce more shrews. The other
three specimens were captured alive on February 1 (one) and February 2
(two), 1961, in the wake of a bulldozer that was clearing land adjacent
to the place where the first specimen was trapped. The ground cover
being cleared away consisted mostly of dry, dense weeds and short,
thorny scrub; the latter was sparse in some places and formed dense
thickets in others. One individual that was kept alive for a short time
in a can ate crickets and roaches readily and ate one spider, but
refused isopods. On one occasion it ate six crickets in about three
hours. Wet oatmeal and oatmeal mixed with peanut butter both were
refused.
TABLE 1. CRANIAL MEASUREMENTS OF TWO SPECIES OF NOTIOSOREX.
Table Legend for the table headers:
Column CA: Catalogue number, or number of specimens averaged, and sex
Column CO: Condylobasal length
Column IN: Interorbital constriction
Column MA: Maxillary breadth
Column CR: Cranial breadth
Column PA: Palatal length
Column LE: Length of maxillary tooth-row
====================================================================
CA | CO | IN | MA | CR | PA | LE
--------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
_Notiosorex crawfordi_, Huachuca Mts., Arizona[A]
| | | | | |
Average 6 (2♂, 4♀) | 16.01 | 3.72 | 5.08 | 8.32 | 6.59 | 5.93
Minimum | 15.7 | 3.6 | 4.9 | 7.8 | 6.3 | 5.8
Maximum | 16.5 | 3.85 | 5.2 | 8.8 | 7.15 | 6.2
El Fuerte, Sinaloa
75184 KU, ♀ | 16.5 | 3.7 | 5.0 | 8.4 | 6.9 | 6.1
SW Guadalajara, Jalisco
33318 KU, ♂ | .. | 3.6 | 4.9 | .. | 7.1 | 5.7
42583 KU, ? | 15.0+ | 3.5 | 4.6 | .. | 6.6 | 5.4±
42584 KU, ? | .. | 3.6 | 4.9 | .. | 7.1± | 6.1±
2 mi. E La Palma, Michoacán
42586 KU, ? | .. | 3.8 | 4.9 | .. | 6.9 | ..
42587 KU, ? | .. | 3.8 | 4.8 | .. | 6.9 | 6.0
42588 KU, ? | .. | .. | 4.9 | .. | 6.9 | 6.2
_Notiosorex evotis_, Mazatlán, Sinaloa
Average 4 (♂) | 17.68 | 4.05 | 5.37 | 8.68 | 7.60 | 6.58
Minimum | 17.4 | 4.0 | 5.3 | 8.5 | 7.5 | 6.5
Maximum | 17.9 | 4.1 | 5.4 | 8.8 | 7.7 | 6.7
--------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
[Footnote A: After Hoffmeister and Goodpaster, 1954:51.]
Average and extreme external measurements of the four males are as
follows: total length, 93.2 (90-98); length of tail, 25.5 (23-27);
length of hind foot, 11.9 (11-13); length of ear from notch, 7.7
(7-8); weight in grams, 5.4 (4.4-6.3). Cranial measurements are
given in Table 1.
_Notiosorex evotis_ was described by Coues (1877:652) on the basis of a
single specimen, obtained at Mazatlán by Ferdinand Bischoff in 1868,
that originally had at least the partial skull inside. Subsequently the
skull was removed and evidently lost (Poole and Schantz, 1942:181).
Coues named _evotis_ as a species distinct from _crawfordi_ (described
by him in the same paper) on the basis of larger size, shorter tail, and
alleged slight differences in color. He did not describe the skull, but
did note that the dentition was "substantially the same as that of _N.
crawfordi_." Evidently, the only other correctly identified specimen of
_evotis_ on record is an individual from Mazatlán in the British Museum,
the skull of which was figured by Dobson (1890:pl. 23, fig. 20).
Merriam (1895:34) characterized _evotis_, known to him by only the
holotype, as: "Similar to _N. crawfordi_, but slightly larger and
darker." He did not examine the skull, which by that time had been "lost
or mislaid." Merriam reduced _evotis_ to subspecific status under
_crawfordi_ with the following remarks: "In the absence of sufficient
material of _N. evotis_, it is impossible to determine its exact
relations to _crawfordi_. Dobson did not recognize it as distinct, but
figured its teeth under the name _crawfordi_ [_loc. cit._, possibly a
_lapsus_]. For the present it seems best to retain it as a subspecies."
Merriam's arrangement of _evotis_ as a subspecies of _crawfordi_ has
been followed by subsequent workers, mostly, we suppose, because
additional material of undoubted _evotis_ has not until now been
available. Comparisons of our four specimens with specimens (from
Jalisco, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas) and published descriptions and
measurements (see especially Hoffmeister and Goodpaster, 1954:46-47, 51)
of _crawfordi_ reveal that _evotis_ has a longer body and hind foot than
_crawfordi_ but a relatively (sometimes actually) shorter tail and ear,
and a distinctly larger, heavier skull (see Table 1). The upper parts of
our specimens average pale brownish gray and are paler, not darker, than
the upper parts of _crawfordi_. But, all of the latter were obtained in
the warm months of the year except one November-taken individual from El
Fuerte, Sinaloa, the dorsal pelage of which approaches in color that of
the darkest of the _evotis_. The pelage of both kinds probably is paler
in winter than in summer and may be indistinguishable in the same
season. Ventrally, all four _evotis_ are grayish white, faintly to
moderately tinged with brownish buff.
_Notiosorex evotis_ differs cranially from _Notiosorex crawfordi_ as
follows: larger (see measurements); mesopterygoid fossa squared rather
than broadly U-shaped anteriorly; rounded process on maxillary at
posterior border of infraorbital canal well developed (faint or lacking
in _crawfordi_); occipital condyles smaller and, in lateral view,
elevated above basal plane of skull; upper molars slightly more crowded
in occlusal view. These differences, although admittedly slight, appear
to be constant in the specimens we have seen, but ought to be used
cautiously owing to the small samples studied.
Shrews of the genus _Notiosorex_ have been reported twice previously
from localities in west-central México, other than from Mazatlán, as
follows: 21 mi. SW Guadalajara (remains from owl pellets) and 13 mi. S,
15 mi. W Guadalajara, Jalisco, by Twente and Baker (1951:120-121); and
Cerrito Loco, 2 mi. E La Palma, Michoacán (remains from owl pellets), by
Baker and Alcorn (1953:116). The remains were referred to _evotis_ on
geographic grounds in one instance and were so referred inferentially in
the other. Examination of the specimens upon which these reports were
based reveals that all are _crawfordi_ on the basis of characters
previously cited. As a result, _N. evotis_ is known only from the type
locality at Mazatlán, whereas _N. crawfordi_ is widely distributed on
the Mexican Plateau as far south as Jalisco and northern Michoacán, and
occurs on the west side of the Sierra Occidental as far south as
northern Sinaloa.
The two kinds obviously are closely related and intergradation
eventually may be demonstrated between them. But, for the present, we
adopt a conservative course and treat _evotis_ as a full species owing
to its distinctive features, restricted geographic distribution, and the
lack of evidence of intergradation between it and _crawfordi_.
_=Balantiopteryx plicata pallida=_ Burt.--Thirty-five specimens from two
adjacent localities along the Río del Fuerte in northern Sinaloa, 3 mi.
NE San Miguel, 300 ft. (84944-48) and 10 mi. NNE Los Mochis (60572-75,
60667-78, 60681-94), provide the first records of the subspecies from
the state. Individuals from both localities were shot at dusk as they
foraged among trees in the valley of the river. Fifteen of 18 females
from 10 mi. NNE Los Mochis, collected on June 5, 6 and 7, 1955, were
pregnant; each contained a single embryo, the embryos ranging from 7 to
15 mm. in crown-rump length. _B. p. pallida_ previously has been
reported from the southern parts of Baja California and Sonora.
_=Balantiopteryx plicata plicata=_ Peters.--Specimens in the Museum of
Natural History from the following localities, several of which are
marginal, document better than previously has been done the distribution
of this subspecies in Sinaloa: 32 mi. SSE Culiacán (60699); 10 mi. SE
Escuinapa (68629); 17 mi. SSE Guamúchil (60576); 5 mi. NW Mazatlán
(85537-61, 85901-04); 1 mi. SE Mazatlán, 10 ft. (39461-76); 1 mi. S
Pericos (60697-98, 60700); ½ mi. E Piaxtla (60701); ½ mi. W Rosario,
100 ft. (39477-79); 5 mi. SSE Rosario (60702-03); 4 mi. N Terrero
(60695-96).
Pregnant females, each with a single embryo, were recorded in 1954 from
4 mi. N Terrero, 2 (June 9), 1 mi. S Pericos, 2 (June 13), and 5 mi. SSE
Rosario, 2 (June 20). None of 16 December-taken females from 5 mi. NW
Mazatlán was pregnant.
The specimen from 17 mi. SSE Guamúchil, preserved in alcohol, is
provisionally referred to _B. p. plicata_ on geographic grounds inasmuch
as specimens from the nearby localities of 1 mi. S Pericos and 4 mi. N
Terrero, although more grayish on the average than specimens from
southern Sinaloa, are somewhat darker and distinctly larger than
specimens of _B. p. pallida_ from along the Río del Fuerte in northern
Sinaloa. Specimens from southern Sinaloa average only slightly paler
than typical _plicata_ examined from southern México and Nicaragua.
_=Pteronotus psilotis=_ (Dobson).--A total of six specimens from two
localities in southern Sinaloa provide the first records from the state
and are the northernmost records in western México. The two localities
are: ½ mi. S Concepción, 250 ft. (84987-90); 1 mi. W Matatán
(84985-86). The two individuals from the last-mentioned place extend the
known range of the species approximately 275 miles north-northwest from
a locality 7 mi. W, ½ mi. S Santiago, Colima (Anderson, 1956:349), and
place the limit of the known distribution of _P. psilotis_ farther to
the north in western México than in the eastern part of the country. We
follow Burt and Stirton (1961:24-25) in use of the generic name
_Pteronotus_ for this species.
The two specimens from 1 mi. W Matatán were shot at late dusk as they
foraged with other bats, presumably of the same species, low over water
at the place where the Río San Antonio joins the larger Río Baluarte.
The four individuals from ½ mi. S Concepción were captured in mist
nets stretched across the Río de las Cañas at the Sinaloa-Nayarit
border, and were taken shortly after dark at heights of three feet or
less above the water. Our six specimens all are males. Five are in the
reddish color phase and one is in the brownish phase.
Average and extreme measurements of the six males, which average
slightly smaller than specimens examined from Colima and Guerrero,
are as follows: total length, 66.8 (65-69); length of tail, 16.3
(15-18); length of hind foot, 11.8 (11-12); length of ear from
notch, 16.9 (16.5-17.0); length of forearm (dry), 41.5 (40.6-42.4);
weight in grams, 8.3 (6.9-9.8); greatest length of skull, 15.4
(15.2-15.5); zygomatic breadth, 8.3 (8.2-8.4); interorbital
constriction, 3.4 (3.3-3.6); mastoid breadth, 8.7 (8.6-8.8); length
of maxillary tooth-row, 5.8 (5.8-5.9); breadth across M3, 5.4
(5.3-5.6).
_=Sturnira lilium parvidens=_ Goldman.--The first specimens to be
reported from Sinaloa are as follows: 32 mi. SSE Culiacán (61087); 1 mi.
S El Dorado (75207); Pánuco, 22 km. NE Concordia (85648-50). The three
bats from the last-mentioned locality were caught after midnight in a
mist net stretched across a road adjacent to a nearly dry stream bed.
The vegetation in the vicinity of the net consisted mostly of dry weeds
and grass along with some low shrubs, but a tree-filled canyon was about
one-fourth mile above the net. We lack details about the capture of the
other two bats.
_S. l. parvidens_ has been reported only once from farther north in
western México than Sinaloa. Anderson (1960:7) recorded five specimens
from along the Río Septentrión, 1½ mi. SW Tocuina, Chihuahua.
_=Artibeus lituratus palmarum=_ Allen and Chapman.--This species has
been reported once previously from Sinaloa (from 1 mi. S El Dorado by
Anderson, 1960:3). Six specimens (85668-72, 85674), all males, collected
on December 23 and 24, 1960, at Pánuco, 22 km. NE Concordia, provide the
second known occurrence in the state.
_=Artibeus toltecus=_ (Saussure).--A male (85666) from Pánuco, 22 km. NE
Concordia, provides the first record of this species from Sinaloa and
extends the known range northwestward approximately 182 miles from Ambas
Aguas [= 6½ km. SW Amatlán de Jora], Nayarit (Andersen, 1908:300). Our
specimen was taken on December 22, 1960, in a mist net placed across a
road in an area where vegetation consisted mostly of weeds, grasses and
shrubs. Two _Glossophaga soricina leachii_ and two _Choeronycteris
mexicana_ were taken in the same net.
Davis' (1958:165-166) key is useful in separating the small Mexican
members of the genus _Artibeus_, but we have found some adults of
_toltecus_ to be smaller than the key indicates. For example, in the 12
Mexican specimens (Oaxaca, 6, Tamaulipas, 3, Jalisco, 2, Sinaloa, 1)
examined by us the total length of skull varies from 19.7 to 21.0 and
the forearm from 36.3 to 42.6.
Dalquest (1953) and more recently Koopman (1961) regarded _A. toltecus_
and the larger _A. aztecus_, which occurs in the same areas but at
higher elevations than _toltecus_, as subspecies of the more southerly
_A. cinereus_. Davis (_op. cit._), on the other hand, recognized
_toltecus_, _aztecus_, and _cinereus_ as distinct species. More
specimens of small and medium-sized _Artibeus_ are needed from México
before this baffling complex can be studied adequately, but on the basis
of specimens examined we are inclined to agree with Davis as concerns
the specific distinctness of _toltecus_ and _aztecus_. In Tamaulipas
(the mammalian fauna of which is currently under study by Alvarez) for
example, _toltecus_ is known from Rancho Pano Ayuctle at an elevation of
300 feet in tropical deciduous forest, whereas _aztecus_ has been taken
only four miles away at Rancho del Cielo, but at an elevation of 3000
feet in cloud forest. The altitudinal difference between ranges of the
two kinds in Tamaulipas corresponds to that found in Sinaloa (see
Koopman, _loc. cit._) and is of approximately the same magnitude found
by Davis at higher elevations in Guerrero. This relationship suggests
that the two kinds are neither subspecies of a single species, nor
individual variants of a widespread, monotypic species, but probably are
two different species. We agree that one, most likely the smaller
_toltecus_, may eventually prove to be a northern subspecies of
_cinereus_.
_=Myotis occultus=_ Hollister.--A single specimen of this species
(67491) from 1 mi. N, ½ mi. E San Miguel provides the first certain
record from Sinaloa, and is indistinguishable from specimens from
Alamos, Sonora, that were referred to _occultus_ by Hall and Dalquest
(1950:587). Miller and Allen (1928:100) identified a skin alone from
Escuinapa as _occultus_, but Hall and Dalquest (_loc. cit._) later
assigned this specimen provisionally to _M. fortidens_ on geographic
grounds and because it agreed in color with undoubted specimens of the
latter from Guerrero. Specimens from south of San Miguel and north of
the undoubted range of _fortidens_ are needed in order to ascertain
whether the two kinds are distinct species or instead only subspecies of
a single species.
The Sinaloan bat was taken in a mist net stretched over a drainage ditch
adjacent to the Río del Fuerte on the night of June 19-20, 1955, by R.
H. Baker. Several other kinds of bats were obtained (shot or netted) at
the same place, among which was one specimen of _Myotis velifer_. The
specimens studied of _occultus_ from Sinaloa and Sonora are clearly
separable from specimens of _velifer_ from the same region (Sonora and
northern Sinaloa) in having paler (more reddish) pelage, shorter
forearm, smaller skull, relatively broader rostrum, and four fewer
teeth.
_=Myotis velifer velifer=_ (J. A. Allen).--Three specimens from the
following localities in northern Sinaloa provide the first records of
the species from the state: El Fuerte (75234); Río del Fuerte, 1 mi. N,
½ mi. E San Miguel (67490); Río del Fuerte, 10 mi. NNW Los Mochis
(61149). The subspecies _M. v. velifer_ has been reported previously
from the adjacent states of Chihuahua, Durango, and Sonora.
A female (61149) obtained on June 8, 1954, carried a single embryo that
measured 3 mm. in crown-rump length.
_=Lasiurus borealis teliotis=_ (H. Allen).--A female from 10 mi. NNW Los
Mochis (61172), obtained on June 8, 1954, represents the first record of
the species from Sinaloa, and is tentatively referred to this
subspecies. It resembles cranially, but is paler than, Californian
specimens seen of _teliotis_.
_=Molossus ater nigricans=_ Miller.--This large free-tailed bat
previously has been reported no farther north in western México than the
type locality, Acaponeta, Nayarit. Nineteen specimens from four
different localities in Sinaloa are as follows: 1 mi. SE Camino Reál,
400 ft. (85093-99); 32 mi. SSE Culiacán (61279-87); 1 mi. S Pericos
(61277-78); ½ mi. E Piaxtla (61288). The specimens labeled with
reference to Camino Reál and Piaxtla were obtained along the Río Piaxtla
at approximately the same place. Those from 1 mi. S Pericos extend the
known range of the species approximately 225 miles northwestward.
_M. a. nigricans_ is characteristically an early flier. Along the Río
Piaxtla, 1 mi. SE Camino Reál, where bats probably found daytime
retreats in the rocky walls of the steep-sided valley of the river,
individuals first appeared early in the evening when the sun was still
on the western horizon, but were gone before other species of bats were
seen. A female from 32 mi. SSE Culiacán, taken on June 18, 1954,
contained one embryo that was 18 mm. in crown-rump length. Each of the
color phases of the species, reddish (8) and black (11), are represented
among our specimens. We follow Goodwin (1960) in the use of the specific
name _ater_ for this bat.
_=Dasypus novemcinctus mexicanus=_ Peters.--Two armadillos (85402-03)
from the valley of the Río del Fuerte, 3 mi. NE San Miguel, 300 ft., are
the first of the species to be reported from northern Sinaloa. They
extend the known range northwestward in the state approximately 285
miles from Escuinapa (Russell, 1953:25) and signal the possible
occurrence of _D. n. mexicanus_ in southern Sonora. Sign of the
armadillo was abundant at the place where our two specimens were
collected. Because it was felt that the species possibly had been
introduced along the Río del Fuerte, a number of local residents were
questioned on the point, but all insisted that armadillos were native to
the area.
External measurements of 85402 (female) and 85403 (male) are,
respectively, as follows: total length, 725, 748; length of tail,
351, 357; length of hind foot, 87, 89; length of ear from notch,
39, 39.
_=Sylvilagus audubonii goldmani=_ (Nelson).--This cottontail has been
reported from Sinaloa only from Bacubirito, Culiacán (type locality),
and Sinaloa (Nelson, 1909:226). Additional records are: 12 mi. N
Culiacán (67561-62); 6 mi. N El Dorado (75263); 6 mi. N, 1½ mi. E El
Dorado (75264-66); 7 mi. NE El Fuerte (81076-77); and 1 mi. S Pericos
(61292-93). Specimens from the vicinity of El Dorado extend the known
range some 30 miles southward from the type locality. A female from 1
mi. S Pericos that was taken on June 13, 1954, carried three embryos
that measured 29 mm. in crown-rump length.
_=Sciurus truei=_ Nelson.--Three specimens (61300-02) of this species
collected by A. A. Alcorn on June 19, 1954, 32 mi. SSE Culiacán extend
the known range approximately 210 miles south-southeast from Guirocoba,
Sonora (Burt, 1938:38), and provide the first record from Sinaloa. Two
of the specimens are females and each was pregnant, one with two embryos
and the other with three.
Our specimens generally agree in color with _S. truei_, but are larger
than typical individuals and in this respect approach _S. sinaloensis_
of southern Sinaloa. Probably _truei_ and _sinaloensis_ both are only
subspecies of the more southerly _S. colliaei_. The three nominal
species currently constitute the _S. colliaei_ group in which the
presence or absence of P3 seems to vary geographically. The tooth
frequently is absent in the northern _truei_ and usually present
(invariably in the specimens we have examined) in _colliaei_. Only one
of our Sinaloan specimens is accompanied by a skull; in it P3 is present
on the right side and absent on the left.
External measurements of the male and two females are,
respectively: total length, 512, 508, 504; length of tail, 263,
263, 252; length of hind foot, 64, 63, 64; length of ear from
notch, 28, 29, 28. Cranial measurements of 61300 (a female) are:
greatest length of skull, 56.2; zygomatic breadth, 32.6;
interorbital constriction, 17.9; postorbital constriction, 17.9;
length of nasals, 17.3; alveolar length of maxillary tooth-row (on
side lacking P3), 10.9.
_=Thomomys umbrinus atrovarius=_ J. A. Allen.--Two specimens (85104-05)
from the valley of the Río Piaxtla, 1 mi. SE Camino Reál, 400 ft.,
resemble the description of _atrovarius_ and agree in size, color and
most cranial details with a specimen (85744) from 5 mi. NW Mazatlán. The
first-mentioned specimens extend the known range of the subspecies some
50 miles northward from Mazatlán (Bailey, 1915:96), and indicate the
probable occurrence of the species at lower elevations in other parts of
central Sinaloa.
_=Peromyscus merriami goldmani=_ Osgood.--This subspecies has been
reported previously only from the type locality, Alamos, Sonora. Eight
specimens were collected in Sinaloa by W. L. Cutter in the autumn of
1957 as follows: 6 mi. N, 1½ mi. E El Dorado (75368-72); 2½ mi. N
El Fuerte (75365-66); El Fuerte (75367). The first-mentional locality is
approximately 200 miles south-south-east of the type locality. All
specimens collected by Cutter were taken in lowland areas, supporting
remarks by Commissaris (1960) concerning habitat preferences of _P.
merriami_ as compared with those of the closely related _P. eremicus_.
Two of three females from northeast of El Dorado were pregnant on
November 18 and 19; one carried four embryos (8 mm. in crown-rump
length) and the other three (11 mm.).
External and cranial measurements of _P. m. goldmani_ previously
were known only for the holotype (Osgood, 1909:252, 267).
Measurements of five adults, a male (75370) and four females
(75365, 75369, 75371-72) are, respectively, as follows: total
length, 204, 225, 215, 214, 210; length of tail, 105, 120, 110,
108, 109; length of hind foot, 21, 23, 23, 22, 22; length of ear
from notch, 21, 21, 21, 20, 21; weight in grams, 29, 19, 35
(pregnant), 33, 34 (pregnant); greatest length of skull, 26.6,
26.5, 26.9, 26.5,----; zygomatic breadth, 13.8, 13.9, 14.1,
13.4,----; interorbital constriction, 3.9, 3.8, 4.0, 4.0,----;
mastoid breadth, 11.8, 11.9, 11.8, 11.9, 11.5; length of nasals,
10.1, 9.4, 10.0, 10.0,----; length of maxillary tooth-row, 4.5,
4.3, 4.1, 4.1, 4.1.
_=Onychomys torridus yakiensis=_ Merriam.--Only one specimen of this
grasshopper mouse has been reported previously from Sinaloa (from the
town of Sinaloa by Hollister, 1914:471). Thirteen specimens in the
Museum of Natural History better define the range of the species in the
state as follows: 12 mi. N Culiacán (67981-82); 6 mi. N, 1½ mi. E El
Dorado (75374-80); 2½ mi. N El Fuerte (75373); 1 mi. S Pericos
(62118-20). The individuals from northeast of El Dorado extend the known
range of the species some 115 miles south-southeast from Sinaloa.
A female taken on November 17, 1957, from 6 mi. N, 1½ mi. E El Dorado
carried two embryos that measured 23 mm. in crown-rump length. A female
obtained on November 18 at the same place carried four embryos that
measured 10 mm.
_=Neotoma albigula melanura=_ Merriam.--Four specimens from northern
Sinaloa, two (85379-80) from 3 mi. N, 1 mi. E San Miguel, 350 ft., and
two (75386-87) from 2½ mi. N El Fuerte, provide the first records of
the species from the state. _N. a. melanura_ has been known previously
from adjacent parts of Sonora and Chihuahua (see Hall and Kelson,
1959:687-688). The specimens from northeast of San Miguel were trapped
in runways under cholla cactus, in which nests also were found, on a
slope above a rocky arroyo.
_=Spilogale pygmaea=_ Thomas.--Two pygmy spotted skunks from 5 mi. NW
Mazatlán (85898-99) are the fifth and sixth of the species to be
reported (see Van Gelder, 1959:381) and the second and third taken in
Sinaloa (the holotype of _pygmaea_ was obtained at Rosario). One of our
specimens, an adult male, was shot on the night of January 10, 1961, as
it foraged near an old hollow tree in weedy-thorn bush habitat adjacent
to the Pacific Ocean. The hollow tree contained the nest of a woodrat.
The second, an adult female, was trapped nearby in a commercial rat trap
baited with peanut butter and set near a burrow in a forested area
having little undergrowth.
The two individuals here reported fit fairly well the description
of color pattern given for the species by Van Gelder (_op. cit._:
379), but are larger (considering sex), externally and cranially,
than any of the four specimens reported previously. Measurements of
the male and female are, respectively: total length, 291, 270;
length of tail, 65, 58; length of hind foot, 38, 35; length of ear
from notch, 25, 23; weight in grams, 247.0, 190.5; condylobasal
length, 46.0, 42.9; occipitonasal length, 45.0, 41.4; zygomatic
breadth, 29.0, 27.3; mastoid breadth, 23.9, 22.5; interorbital
constriction, 14.3, 13.6; postorbital constriction, 14.8, 14.1;
palatilar length, 15.6, 14.6; postpalatal length, 23.2, 22.4;
cranial depth, 16.6, 15.2; length of maxillary tooth-row, 14.2,
13.4. Cranial measurements were taken in the manner described by
Van Gelder (_op. cit._: 236-237).
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_Transmitted March 15, 1962_.
[SQUARE]
29-3000
* * * * *
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:
Corrected typo: semi-colon for comma in "postpalatal length, 23.2,
22.4;".
Italic typeface is indicated by _underscores_.
Bold typeface is indicated by =equals=.
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